
Class, IP K 8 51 



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B.^BIES OF KOIOUM. 



ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY OF TRAVEL 



CENTRAL ASIA 

travels in 
CASHMERE, LITTLE THIBET 

AND 

CENTRAL ASIA 



COMPILED AND ARRANGED BY 

BAYARD TAYLOR 

REVISED BY 

THOMAS STEVENS 

MARTIN C. WALKER, 
420 B Street, N. L 

NEW YORK '»'.,. 
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
• 1892 



1i 



^ 



^^ 



\ 



Copyright, i88i, 1892, by 
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 

Gift from 
Wff- &Mrs. L. o. Jeifers 
Nov, 7, 1931 



TROW DIRFCTORY 

PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY 

NEW YORK 



REVISER'S NOTE 

The agreeable task of revising this work, for the 
purpose of bringing its contents " up to date," having 
been undertaken by the undersigned, indulgence is 
asked of the reader, for a word in explanation : 

The work was accepted both as a pleasure and a 
compliment. The continued popularity of Bayard 
Taylor's works of travel and adventure, attest, as 
nothing else could, their intrinsic worth ; the histori- 
cal and geographical fidelity of the author, no less 
than his literary excellence, whether in his own writ- 
ings or the selecting and editing of the productions 
of other travellers. 

It is only that the political cards have so frequently 
been shuffled of late years in the countries of Central 
Asia, and that our knowledge of hitherto mysterious 
regions has been increased by later explorations, that 
legitimate excuse for this revision has been found. 

To make the revision cover, as completely as pos- 
sible, the entire field of Central Asia, Chapter XIX., 
'^ Across Thibet," has been added to the original mat- 
ter. For the substance of the new chapter we are 
indebted to the admirable work of the French ex- 
plorer, Gabriel Bonvalot, published under the same 
title, undoubtedly a most valuable contribution to our 
knowledge of the mysterious country of the Lamas. 



iv REVISER'S NOTE 

It only remains to be said, that in revising Mr. 

Taylor's work great care has been taken to make no 

alterations beyond those made necessary by recent 

political changes and the developments of time and 

progress. 

Thomas Stevens. 



CONTENTS 

.CHAPTER I. 
The Countries op Central Asia, . . . . . 1 

CHAPTER II. 
Marco Polo in Central Asia, 11 

CHAPTER III. 
Modern Attempts at Exploration, . • , . 29 

CHAPTER IV. 
Vigne's Journey to Cashmere, 34 

CHAPTER V. 

The Valley of Cashmere and the Ruins of Mar- 

TUND, . . . 45 

CHAPTER VI. 

Srinagur, THE Capital of Cashmere— City, Envi- 
rons, Shawls, and Inhabitants, .... 51 

CHAPTER VII. 
Journey to Iskardo and the Upper Indus, . . '64 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Journey to Ladak, , .80 

CHAPTER IX. 
Mr. Shaw's Preparations to Explore Central Asia, 93 



VI CONTENTS 

CHAPTER X. PAGE 

Journey to the Karakash River, .... 106 

CHAPTER XI. 
Detention at the Frontier, ..'... 122 

CHAPTER XIl' 
The March to Yarkand, 138 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Residence in Yarkand, 166 

CHAPTER XIV. 
The Journey to Kashgar 184 

CHAPTER XV. 
Detention at Kashgar, 204 

CHAPTER XVI. 

The Return to Yarkand, and Second Residence 

There, 235 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Crossing the Karakoram Pass, and End of the 

Journey, 254 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
The Conquest of Khiva, . . , . . . . 269 

CHAPTER XIX. 
Across Thibet, . , , , 375 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ' 

Babies of Koioum, . . ... Frontispiece 

FACING 
PAGE 

Primitive Agriculture in Kashgar, .... 9 

A Well in the Desert, 27 

The Brothers Sghlagintweit : Robert, Hermann, 

Adolphe, 33 

Mountain Scene near Cashmere, 44 

Night on the Desert, 68 

Thibetan Peasant, . 103 

Kirghiz Man, . . 125 

Toorkee Funeral, 153 

Yarkanbee Guest-chamber, 162 

The Shaghawal op Yarkand 165 

King Yakoob Beg, 211 

Head of Asiatic Camel, . . . . . . . 230 

The Return to Yarkand, 240 

A Toorkee Wedding Party, 259 

A Persian Slave, , , , . . , , . .260 



TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

CHAPTER I. 

THE COUNTRIES OF CENTRAL ASIA 

THE name "Central Asia" correctly describes, in 
a geographical sense, the heart of that continent. 
It is separated from the river-system of the Aral and 
Caspian Seas, on the west, by almost impassable 
mountain-ranges ; from the affluents of the Indus 
and Ganges, on the south, by the chain of the Kiien- 
liin, the rival of the Himalayas, and from the rivers 
of China to the eastward, by the great Desert of 
Gobi. A line drawn from Constantinople to Pe- 
king, and another from the latitude of Cape Co- 
morin to that of the Polar Sea, bisecting the former 
line, would very nearly indicate the central portion 
of the region, as also of the continent. 

Here — partly, perhaps, on account of its remote 
and nearly inaccessible situation, and also partly 
from concurrent traditions — many ethnologists have 
placed the original cradle of the Aryan race. India 
was undoubtedly colonized by tribes descending 
from the high plateaus to the northward, and tlie le- 
gends of the earlier Aryan inhabitants of Europe 
have been traced backward, step by step, until they 



2 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

lose themselves among the labyrinths of mountains 
from which descend the Oxus and the Jaxartes. 
The remarkable physical features of the region must 
have impressed themselves upon even the primitive 
inhabitants. The three enclosing mountain-chains, 
which form almost three sides of a square, rise to 
such an elevation that few of their passes are less 
than 18,000 feet above the sea. Above the western 
wall lies the tableland of Pamer, or Pamir, called 
by the natives Bam-i-doonia, or '^ Poof of the 
World." The fertile lands beyond those upper 
realms of rock and snow and scanty summer pas- 
tures, can only be reached after many da^^s of dan- 
gerous travel, where beasts of burden find no food, 
where water is rarely to be had, and where, even in 
summer, hurricanes of intense cold threaten to de- 
stroy all life in a few hours. 

Scarcely anything is known of the early history of 
this part of Asia. The armies of Alexander reached 
its western and southern frontiers, but neither 
crossed them nor bi'ought back any satisfactory re- 
port of the land beyond. It was no doubt settled by 
one of the branches of the large Tartar family, and 
its primitive communications must have been with 
the region known as Soongaria, on the north, and the 
countries of Turkestan, or Independent Tartary, on 
the west. It formed part of the temporary empire of 
Genghis Khan, and its later subjection to China was 
probably a result of his conquest. Afterward it was 
possessed by Tamerlane, and by his great-grandson, 
Babei-, the founder of the Mogul dynasty in India. 
Its subsequent history very much resembles that of 



THE G0UNTBIE8 OF CENTRAL ASIA 3 

Western Turkestan, to the inhabitants of which its 
own are most nearly allied by blood, religion, and 
habits. Small states, governed by petty chiefs, arose 
after the dismemberment of the Tartar empires, and 
continued to exist, with the usual episodes of jeal- 
ousy, assassination, and war, until the middle of the 
eighteenth century, when the whole region was 
again brought under Chinese rule. The revolution 
of 1865, by which this rule was overthrown, was the 
direct means of opening Central Asia to explorers. 

A more than geographical interest, however, is 
now directed toward this region. Since 1876 Russia 
has added the former Khanate of Khokand to her 
territory ; while England, extending her sway from 
the south, over Cashmere and Ladak, virtually gov- 
erns as far as the passes of the Karakoram and 
Kiien-liin chains, and the loftier peaks which feed 
the rivers of Yarkand and Khoten. Between these 
two rival powers lies a warm and fertile land, com- 
manding the roads to China and Great Thibet. 
Hence the Russian merchants from the north and 
the English officials from the south have lost no time 
in attempting to secure an influence which may af- 
fect the character of future events. Afghanistan 
and the little independent states scattered among the 
fastnesses of the Hindoo Koosh still intervene be- 
tween England and the advance of Russia in West- 
ern Tartary ; but here, in Central Asia, the interests 
of the two great powers are brought face to face. 

This may either lead to, or entirely avert, the 
great and final struggle for political supremacy in 
Asia which the thoughtful statesmen of both conn- 



4 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

tries seem to anticipate. It will, at least, bring into 
sharper contrast the difference between the systems 
of annexation and government which each employs ; 
and these differences are inherent in the character of 
the two races. Lieutenant von Heller, in an article 
entitled, " The Russians in Central Asia," makes this 
parallel : " The Anglo-Saxons cannot be surpassed 
where their task is to colonize virgin soil and create 
new cities and states by a free course of organization ; 
but the art of rendering barbaric and semi-barbaric 
tribes completely subject to them, to blend them- 
selves with such tribes by a strict and thorough pro- 
cess of amalgamation, as the Russians have accom- 
plished with so much success along the whole south-, 
em frontier of their Asiatic possessions — this art is 
alien to the English nature. The Anglo-Saxon col- 
onizes as did the Greek, the Russian as did the 
Roman. The pioneers of the latter are military 
colonies, not those squatters who, conscious of their 
free, unrestricted individual force, feel at home be- 
yond the limits of the civilization for which they 
break the way. Through a system of military col- 
onies, the nomadic Tartars, Kalmucks, and Kirghizes 
are forced into the organization of the Russian state, 
accustomed to taxes and military service, and thus 
gradually Russianized. 

Thus far, the Enj^lish rule in India is based sim- 
ply upon force, and by force sustained. ^N^otwith- 
standing the comparative order and security which 
have been established, the physical development of 
the country, the building of canals and railroads, the 
extension and protection of trade in every quarter, 



THE COUNTRIES OF CENTRAL ASIA 5 

the native population has learned no loyalty to the 
Government under which they live. The English 
officials are strangers and exiles, who never forget 
their homes. There is little intermixture of the 
races, and even less social intercourse than an intelli- 
gent policy would dictate. India, thus, is an extra- 
neous possession, while Russian Tartary is grafted 
upon the national stock. 

On both sides also the means of communication 
are approaching each other. The English railways 
now extend from Bombay and Calcutta into Afghan- 
istan, while the Russians have built a line from 
Orenburg, on the Ural River, across the steppes into 
Turkestan. Although there is no near probability of 
any direct conflict, the natural impulsion, which both 
nations are compelled to follow, will gradually lead 
them to that point where their different systems of 
annexation will stand in direct opposition, and one 
must give way to the other. 

The tremendous mountain-chains which for so 
many centuries have shut out Central Asia from in- 
tercourse with the world, form nearly three sides of 
a square. The northern range, called the Tliian- 
Shan, stretches eastward from the right angle which 
it makes with the western range or Belur Dagh, di- 
viding the rivers which lose themselves in the desert 
of Lob from those which flow into, the detached 
lakes of Russian Tartary. It is a great natural bar- 
rier, with passes sixteen thousand feet, and sunmiits 
more than twenty thousand feet. The Belur Dagh, 
upholding the great tableland of Pamir on the west, 
has an equal if not greater average elevation. At its 



6 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

southern extremity, where it merges into the Hindoo 
Koosh, it makes nearly a right angle with the Kara- 
koram range which divides the waters of the Indus 
from those of the rivers of Yarkand and Khoten. 
Many peaks of the Karakoram have an elevation of 
over twenty-four thousand feet, and one of them, the 
Dapsang, rises to the great height of 28,278 feet. 
The summit ridge of this chain, further to the east- 
ward, sinks into an uneven tableland, about nineteen 
thousand feet above the sea, which attaches it to tlie 
parallel range of the Kiien-liin, which latter chain 
thus forms a continuation of the southern wall of 
Central Asia. 

The physical features of the region are thus de- 
scribed by Mr. Shaw : " East Turkestan (the name 
now generally used) resembles an immense bay, open 
to the eastward, but enclosed by gigantic mountain 
ranges on all other sides. A desert, thirty days' 
journey in width, lies before its mouth and divides 
it from China. In this desert all the rivers of Tur- 
kestan are swallowed up ; they end in marshes or 
lakes, or gradually disappear under the sand in broad 
jungles. At the northwestern corner, between the 
Thian-Shan and the plateau of Pamir, there is a 
secondary bay, at the opening of which lie the cities 
of Yang-hissar and Kashgar, the latter the political 
capital of the country, as Yarkand is the commercial 
capital. The great bay of Turkestan also stretches 
out two long arms to the eastward, at the foot of 
the northern and southern mountain-chains, between 
them and the great desert, forming the province of 
Khoten in the south, and the provinces of Usch-Tur- 



THE COUNTRIES OF CENTRAL ASIA 7 

fan, Aksii, Kntslia, etc., in the north. The inhabited 
territory has therefore the genei'al form of a crescent, 
with its convex side to the mountains and its concave 
toward the desert. It has an average elevation of 
four to five thousand feet above the sea. 

'' Tlie northern and southern boundaries of East 
Tiirlcestan are by no means simple chains of moun- 
tains, like the Alps or Pyrenees, which may be 
crossed by single passes ; they are agglomerated 
mountain-systems, consisting of many chains, and 
embracing considerable regions, such as Little Thibet 
and Cashmere, in their valleys. In travelling from 
India to Turkestan on the usual path of trade, there 
are not less than eleven lofty passes to be surmounted, 
only two of which are lower than the summit of 
Mont Blanc. 

" The rivers which have their rise in the southern 
mountain-system exhibit the singular feature, that 
they do not directly find their way to the plains, but 
often flow for many hundred miles in long valleys, 
lying between the chains and parallel with them, be- 
fore they finally collect their strength, and burst 
forth from their imprisonment through a cleft in the 
mountain-barrier. The most remarkable example is 
the Indus, which rising on Chinese soil, flows north- 
westward behind five distinct ranges of the Hima- 
layas before he reaches his turning-point, and then 
must break through all these ranges before he issues 
upon the plains of India. Within this great curve 
he embraces the entire courses of his five large tribu- 
tary rivers, which give a name to the Punjab. Each 
of the latter imitates his example on a lesser scale, 



8 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

and the gorges which they break through the moun- 
tain-walls constitute the wildest scenery of the Hima- 
layas. It is interesting to note that this peculiarity 
is repeated on the northern side of the great water- 
shed. The Karakash flows for eighty miles along 
the southern side of the Kiien-llin, before it sud- 
denly turns and breaks through the gorge of Shahi- 
doolla ; and the river of Yarkand, rising in the Kara- 
koram pass, describes a great arc behind another part 
of the same Kiien-ltin before it turns toward Yar- 
kand. It commences with anal most western course, 
and ends in the desert after a long journey to the 
east. This feature of the country occasions the prin- 
cipal difficulty of travel, for the routes of commerce 
are led directly across all the intervening chains, in- 
stead of following the long wanderings of the rivers. 
"The northern mountain boundary of East Tur- 
kestan is almost equally complicated, with the excep- 
tion of one point at its western extremity, where a 
single Alpine wall divides the territory of Kashgar 
from the upper valleys of the Jaxartes. We see, 
therefore, that East Turkestan is a very compact 
state, cut off from all neighboring lands by lofty 
mountains and tremendous deserts. The physical 
result of this is the almost entire absence of rain. All 
the clouds laden with the moisture of the Indian 
Ocean exhaust themselves on the outer ridge of the 
Himalayas, where the rainfall occasionally amounts 
to three hundred inches in a year. The second and 
third chains receive much less, and beyond them lies 
the sterile region which is called Thibet. The other 
enclosing mountains present similar obstacles to the 



THE G0UNTBIE8 OF CENTRAL ASIA 9 

clouds from the north and west, while the immense 
distance of the China Sea acts as a barrier in that 
direction. 

" Therefore, although the first view of Central 
Asia, as seen from the crest of the Kiien-liin, re- 
minds lis of the open plains of India which we have 
left behind lis, nevertheless we remark an important 
difference in the country as soon as we begin to de- 
scend. Here no forests deck the mountain slopes, no 
green refreshes the eje, weary of gazing continually on 
naked gravel and stones ; even the plain, at first, is 
as barren as the mountains we have left. So much 
the more surprising is the appearance of the rich cul- 
tivation, with which the soil has been clothed by the 
hand of man. From the edge of the desert boi'der, 
which sinks away at a distance of ten or twelve miles 
from the foot of the mountains, the traveller enters 
a cultivated land, where in spring a sea of green fields 
of grain spreads to the I'ight and left, dotted with 
scattered farms and villages which are buried in 
groves of fruit trees. The orchards are so numerous 
that they restrict the view to a few hundred paces. 
Their productions are much the same as in Cash- 
mere : apples, pears, apricots, peaches, mulberries, wal- 
nuts, melons, and even wine ; while the chief harvests 
of the fields are wheat, barley, maize, and lucerne, 
together with some cotton, fiax, and hemp." 

The dry climate which makes a desert of the 
greater portion of the land, in fact allowing habita- 
tion only in the neighborhood of the mountains, has 
given rise to a singular arrangement of the settle- 
ments. In the absence of periodical rains, the in- 



10 TRAVELS IK CENTRAL ASIA 

habitants are obliged to rely npon the streams which 
come from the mountains in spring and summer, for 
the fertiJizino^ of their fields. The resemblance in 
this respect to Utah, and other parts of our Ameri- 
can " Great Basin," will strike the reader. 

On account of this dependence of tlie crops on the 
rivers, the towns and villages of East Turkestan are 
all situated upon or very near the latter. The entire 
population of the country is thus concentrated upon 
strips of territory, stretching in parallel lines from 
the mountains toward the desert, with other strips of 
bare, waste soil lying between. The beasts of burden 
are the ass and the camel, while the Thibetan yak is 
used in the mountains. 

The population of the country is principally of 
Turanian blood. The country people are called " Mo- 
guls" by the inhabitants of the towns. In addition, 
there are also Chinese who have been forcibly con- 
verted to Islam, and some few Kalmucks : also, 
among the merchants, emigrants from Tartary and 
Afghanistan. Most of the civil and military offices 
are filled by Uzbek and Kiptchak Tartars. The 
mountains are inhabited hj wandering Kirghiz tribes, 
which pasture their great herds of goats, sheep, yaks, 
and camels durino; the summer months on the InVli 
Alpine meadows, but in winter descend into the low- 
er and warmer valleys. 

The principal cities, each the capital of a province, 
are Yarkand, Kashgar, Khoten, and Aksu. 



CHAPTER II. 

MARCO POLO IN CENTRAL ASIA 

THE only European traveller, from the most re- 
mote period down to the present age, who ever 
visited the high tableland of Thibet and the countries 
beyond was Marco Polo, of Venice. Although his 
narrative was dictated from memory, long after his 
return from a series of travels so extensive and ad- 
venturous that they have scarcely tlieir parallel in the 
annals of exploration, the exactness of his statements 
has been wonderfully confirmed by all recent discov- 
eries. Perhaps the most complete and satisfactory 
edition of his work is that by Sir Henry Yule, from 
which we take those passages which refer to the sub- 
ject of this volume. 

Tlie Polos were a noble family of Venice, who, 
early in the thirteenth century, engaged in trade with 
the East. Nicolo, the father of Marco, with his elder 
brother Maffeo, appear to have been settled in Con- 
stantinople in the year 1260 : the boy Marco, then 
four years old, had been left behind in Venice. A 
branch of their house appears to have been already 
established in the Crimea, whither Nicolo and Maffeo 
went in the year above named. The prospect of 
successful trade carried them far to the northward 
along the Volga, thence to Bokhara in Tartary, and 



12 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

finally eastward through Central Asia to the court 
of Knblai Khan, at Cambalu (Peking), the capital of 
Cathay. 

" Kublai," says Sir Henry Yule, '' had never before 
fallen in with European gentlemen. He was delighted 
with these Yenetians, listened with strong interest to 
all they had to tell him of the Latin world, and de- 
termined to send them back as his ambassadors to 
tlie Pope, accompanied by an officer of his own court. 
His letters to the Pope, as the Polos represent them, 
were mainly to desire the despatch of a large body of 
educated missionaries to convert his people to Chris- 
tianit3\ 

" The brothers arrived at Acre in 1269, and found 
that no Pope existed, for Clement lY. was dead the 
year before, and no new election had taken place. So 
they went home to Yenice to see how things stood 
there after their absence of so many years. The 
wife of Nicolo was no longer among the living, but 
he found his son Marco a fine lad of fifteen. 

" The Papal interregnum was the longest known, 
at least since the Dark Ages. Two years passed, and 
yet the Cardinals at Yiterbo had come to no agree- 
ment. The brothers were unwilling to let the Great 
Khan suppose them faithless, and perhaps they hank- 
ered after the virgin field of speculation that they had 
discovered ; so they started again for the East, taking 
young Marco with them. At Acre they took counsel 
with an eminent churchman, Tedaldo (or Tebaldo) 
Yisconti, Archdeacon of Liege, whom the book repre- 
sents to have been Legate in Syria, and who m any 
case was a person of much gravity and influence. 



MARCO POLO m CENTRAL ASIA 13 

From him they got letters to authenticate the causes 
of the miscarriage of their mission, and started for 
the farther East. But they were still at the port of 
Ayas, on the Gulf of Scanderoon, which was then be- 
coming one of the chief points of arrival and depart- 
ure for the inland trade of Asia, when they were 
overtaken by the news that a Pope was at last elected, 
and that the choice had fallen upon their friend, Arch- 
deacon Tedaldo. They immediately returned to Acre, 
and were at last able to execute the Khan's commis- 
sion, and to obtain a reply. But instead of the hun- 
dred able teachers of science and religion whom 
Kublai is said to have asked for, the new Pope, 
Gregory X., could supply but two Dominicans ; and 
these lost heart and drew back when they had barely 
taken the first step of the journey. 

" Judging from certain indications, we conceive it 
probable that the three Venetians, whose second start 
from Acre took place about November, 1271, pro- 
ceeded by Ayas and Sivas, and then by Mardin, 
Mosul and Bagdad, to Ormuz at the mouth of the 
Persian Gulf, with the view of going on by sea, but 
that some obstacle arose which compelled them to 
abandon this project, and turn north again from Or- 
muz. They then traversed successively Kerman and 
Khorassan, Balkh and Badakhshan, whence they as- 
cended the upper Oxus to the plateau of Pamir, a 
route not known to have been since followed by any 
European traveller except Benedict Goes, till the 
spirited expedition of Captain John Wood, of the In- 
dian Navy, in 1838. Crossing the Pamir steppe, the 
travellers descended from Kashgar, whence they pro- 



14: TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

ceeded b}" Yarkaiid and Klioten and the vicinity of 
Lake Lob, and eventually across the great Gobi Desert 
to Tangut, the name then applied by Mongols and 
Persians to the territory at the extreme northwest of 
China, both within and without the Wall. Skirting 
the northern frontier of China, they at last reached 
the presence of the Khan, who was at his usual sum- 
mer residence at Kaipingfu, near the base of the 
Khingan Mountains, and about fifty miles north of 
the Great Wall. If there be no mistake in the time 
(three years and a half ) ascribed to this joui-ney in all 
the existing texts, the travellers did not reach the 
court till about May of 1275. 

"Kublai received the Venetians with great cordial- 
ity, and took kindly to young Marco, w^ho must have 
been by this time one-and-twenty. The ' Young 
Bachelor,' as the story calls him, applied himself to 
the acquisition of the languages and w^ritten charac- 
ters in chief use among the multifarious nationalities 
included in the Khan's court and administration ; and 
Kublai, after a time, seeing his discretion and abilit}^, 
began to employ him in the public service. M. Pau- 
thier has found a record in the Chinese annals of the 
Mongol dynasty, which states that in the year 1277, 
a certain Polo was nominated a second-class commis- 
sioner or agent attached to the Privy Council, a pas- 
sage which we are happy to believe to refer to our 
young traveller. 

" Marco, during his stay at court, liad observed the 
Khan's delight in hearing of strange countries, their 
marvels, manners, and oddities, and had heard his Ma- 
jesty's frank expressions of disgust at the stupidity of 



MARCO POLO IN CENTRAL ASIA 15 

his commissioners, wlien they could speak of nothing 
but tlie official business on which tliej had been sent. 
Profiting by these observations, he took care to store 
his memory or his note-book with all curious facts 
tliat were likely to interest Kublai, and related them 
with vivacity on his return to court. This first 
journey, which led him through a region which is 
still very nearly a tey'ra incognita^ and in which there 
existed and still exists, among the deep valleys of the 
great rivers flowing down from Eastern Thibet, and 
in the rugged mountain-ranges bordering Yunnan 
and Kweichan, a vast ethnological garden, as it were, 
of tribes of various races and in every stage of unciv- 
ilization, afforded him an acquaintance with many 
strange products and eccentric traits of manners, 
wherewith to delight the Emperor. 

" Marco rose rapidly in favor, and was often em- 
ployed again on distant missions, as well as in domes- 
tic administration, but we gather few details as to his 
employments. At one time we know that he held 
for three years the government of the great city of 
JTangchan, though we need not try to magnify this 
office, as some commentators have done, into the vice- 
royalty of one of the great provinces of the Empire ; 
an another occasion, we find him with his uncle 
Maffeo, passing a year at Kanchan, in Tangut ; again, 
it would appear, visiting Karakoram, the old capital 
of the Khans in Mongolia ; on another occasion in 
Champa, or Southern Cochin-China ; and again, or 
perhaps as a part of the last expedition, on a mission 
to the Indian Seas, when he appears to have visited 
several of the southern states of India. We are not 



16 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

informed whether his father and uncle shared in such 
employments ; and the story of their services ren- 
dered to the Khan in promoting the capture of the 
city of Siangyang, by the construction of powerful 
engines of attack, is too much perplexed by difficul- 
ties of clironology to be cited with confidence. An}^- 
liow, they were gathering wealth, and after years of 
exile they began to dread what might follow old Ku- 
blai's death, and longed to carry their gear and their 
own gray heads safe home to Yenice. The aged 
Emperor growled refusal to all their hints, and but 
for a happy chance we should have lost our mediaeval 
Herodotus. 

" Arghun Khan, of Persia, Kublai's great-nephew, 
had lost his favorite wife, the Khatun Bulughan ; 
and, mourning her sorely, took steps to fulfil her dy- 
ing injunction that her place should be filled only by 
a lady of her own kin, the Mongol tribe of Bayant. 
Ambassadors were despatched to the court of tlie 
Great Khan to seek such a bride. The message was 
courteously received, and the choice fell upon the 
lady Kukachin, a maiden of seventeen. The overland 
road from Peking to Tabreez (in Persia) was not 
only of portentous length for such a tender charge, 
but was imperilled by war, so the envoys desired to 
return by sea. Tartars in general were strangers to 
all navigation ; and the envoys, much taken with the 
Venetians, and eager to profit by their experience, 
especially as Marco had just then returned from his 
Indian mission, begged the Khan as a favor to send 
the three Franks in their company. He consented with 
reluctance, but, having done so, fitted out the party 



MARCO POLO IN CENTRAL ASIA 17 

nobly for the voyage, charging the Polos with 
friendly messages for the potentates of Europe, in- 
cluding the King of England. They appear to have 
sailed from the port of Zayton (as the Westerns called 
Chin-chan, in To-lden) in the beginning of 1292. It 
was an ill-starred voyage, and involved long deten- 
tions on the coast of Sumatra, and in the south of 
India, to which, however, we are indebted for some 
of the be.st chapters in the book ; and two years or 
upward passed before they arrived at their destina- 
tion in Persia. The three hardy Venetians survived 
all perils, and so did the lady, who had come to look 
on them with filial regard j but two of the three en- 
voys, and a vast proportion of the suite, had perished 
by the way. 

" The princess wept as she took leave of the kindly 
and noble Venetians. They went on to Tabreez, and 
after a long halt there proceeded homeward, reach- 
ing Venice, according to all texts, some time in 1295." 

We now take from Ramusio's edition of Marco 
Polo's travels (published in Venice, in 1553), the 
account of the return of the three, father, uncle, and 
Marco, to Venice : 

" And when they got thither the same fate befell 
them as befell Ulysses, who, when he returned, after 
his twenty years' wanderings, to his native Ithaca, 
was recognized by nobody. Thus also these three 
gentlemen, who had been so many years absent from 
their native city, were recognized b}^ none of their 
kinsfolk, who were under the firm belief that they 
had all been dead for many a year past, as indeed 
had been reported. Through the long duration and 



18 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

the hardships of their journeys, and through the 
many worries and anxieties that they had undergone, 
they were quite changed in aspect, and had got a 
certain indescribable smack of the Tartar both in air 
and accent, having indeed all but forgotten their 
Venetian tongue. Their clothes too were coarse and 
shabby, and of a Tartar cut. They proceeded on 
their arrival to their house in tliis city, in the con- 
fine of St. John Chrysostom, where you may see it 
to this day. The house, which was in those days a 
very lofty and handsome j?^Z<5^5^<9, is now known b}^ 
the name of the Corte del Millioni for a reason that 
I will tell you presently. Going thither, they found 
it occupied by some of their relatives, and they had 
the greatest difficulty in making the latter under- 
stand who they should be. For these good people, 
seeing them to be ia countenance so unlike what 
they used to be, and in dress so shabby, flatly re- 
fused to believe that they were those very gentlemen 
of the Ca' Polo, whom they had been looking upon 
for ever so many 3'ears as among the dead. So these 
three gentlemen — this is a story I have often heard, 
when I was a youngster, from the illustrious Messer 
Gasparo Malpiero, a gentleman of very great age, 
and a Senator of eminent virtue and integrity, whose 
house was on the canal of Santa Marina, exactly at 
the corner over the mouth of the Rio de San Gio- 
vanni Chrisostomo, and just midway among the 
buildings of the aforesaid Corte del Millioni, and 
he said he had heard the story from his own fatlier 
and grandfather, and from other old men among 
the neighbors — the three gentlemen, I say, devised a 



MARCO POLO m CENTRAL A8TA 19 

scheme by which thej should at once bring about 
their recognition by their relatives, and secure the 
honorable notice of the whole city ; and this was it : 
" They invited a number of their kindred to an en- 
tertainment which they took care to have prepared 
with great state and splendor, in that house of 
theirs ; and when the hour arrived for sitting down 
to table they came forth of their chamber all three 
clothed in crimson satin, fashioned in long robes 
reaching to the ground, such as people in those days 
wore within doors. And when water for the hands 
had been served, and the guests were set, they took 
off those robes and put on others of crimson damask, 
while the first suits were by their orders cut up and 
divided among the servants. Then, after partaking 
of some of the dishes, they went out again and came 
back in robes of crimson velvet ; and when they had 
again taken their seats, the second suits were divided 
as before. When dinner was over they did the like 
with the robes of velvet, after they had put on 
dresses of the ordinary fashion worn by the rest of 
tlie company. These proceedings caused much won- 
der and amazement among the guests. But when 
the cloth had been drawn, and all the servants had 
been ordered to retire from the dining-hall, Messer 
Marco, as the youngest of the three, rose from table, 
and, going into another chamber, brought forth the 
three shabby dresses of coarse stuff which they had 
worn when they first arrived. Straightway they 
took sharp knives and began to rip up some of the 
seams and welts, and to take out of them jewels of 
the greatest value in vast q^uantities, such as rubies. 



20 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

sapphires, carbuncles, diamonds, and emeralds, which 
had all been stitched np in those dresses, in so artful 
a fashion that nobody could have suspected the fact. 
For when they took leave of the Great Khan, they 
had changed all the wealth that he had bestowed 
upon them into this mass of rubies, emeralds, and 
Dther jewels, being well aw^are of the impossibility 
of carrying with them so great an amount in gold, 
over a journey of such extreme length and difficul- 
ty. Now, this exhibition of such a huge treasure of 
jewels and precious stones, all tumbled out upon the 
table, threw the guests into fresh amazement, inso- 
much that they seemed quite bewildered and dumb- 
founded. And now they recognized that, in spite of 
all former doubts, these were in truth those honored 
and worthy gentlemen of the Ca' Polo that they 
claimed to be ; and so all paid them the greatest 
honor and reverence. 

" And when the story got wdnd in Venice, 
straightway the whole city, gentle and simple, 
flocked to the house to embrace them, and to make 
much of them, with every conceivable demonstration 
of affection and respect. On Messer Maffeo, who 
was the eldest, they conferred the honor of an office 
that was of great dignity in those days ; while the 
young men came daily to visit and converse with the 
ever polite and gracious Messer Marco, and to ask 
him questions about Cathay and the Great Khan, all 
which he answered with such kindly courtesy that 
every man felt himself in a manner in his debt. 
And as it happened that in the story, which he was 
constantly called on to repeat, of the magnificence of 



MARCO POLO IN CENTRAL ASIA 21 

the Great Khan, he would speak of his revenues as 
amounting to ten or fifteen millions of gold ; and, 
in like manner, when recounting other instances of 
great wealth in those parts, would always make use 
of the term millions^ so they gave him the nickname 
of ' Messer Marco Millioni : ' a thing which I have 
noted also in the public books of this republic, where 
mention is made of him." 

We will now quote those portions of Marco Polo's 
narrative which relate immediately to Central Asia. 
After the disappointment of the travellers at Ormuz, 
and their change of plans, they crossed Persia in a 
northeasterly direction, and reached Balkh, in Tar- 
tary. Thence their course was up the valley of the 
Oxus to the great central tableland of Asia. (Balkh 
has been visited in recent times by English travellers.) 
Beyond that place, Polo passed through Taican [the 
modern Talikan] and Casem [Kishm] to the province 
of Badashan [now Badakhshan], which he thus de- 
scribes : 

" Badashan is a province inhabited by people who 
worship Mahomet, and have a peculiar language. It 
forms a very great kingdom, and the royalty is hered- 
itary. All those of the royal blood are descended 
from King Alexander and the daughter of King 
Darius, who was Lord of the vast Empire of Persia. 
And all these kings call themselves in the Saracen 
tongue, Zulcarniaiii^^ which is as much as to say 
^ Alexander ; ' and this out of respect for Alexander 
the Great. 

* Arabic, signifying "two horned," from the horned head of 
Alexander on many of his coins. 



22 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

" There is in the same country a mountain, in 
which azure [lapis lazuli] is found ; it is the finest in 
the world, and is got in a vein like silver. There 
are also other mountains which contain a great 
amount of silver ore, so that the country is a very 
rich one ; but it is also (it must be said) a very cold 
one ! It produces numbers of excellent horses, re- 
markable for their speed. They are not shod at all, 
although constantly used in mountainous country, 
and on very bad roads. (They go at a great pace, 
even down steep descents, where other horses neither 
would nor could do the like. And Messer Marco was 
told that not long ago they possessed in that province 
a breed of horses from the strain of Alexander's horse 
Bucephalus, all of which had from their birth a par- 
ticular mark on the foi'ehead, This breed was en- 
tirely in the hands of an uncle of the king's ; and in 
consequence of his refusing to let the king have any 
of them, the latter put him to death. The widow, 
then, in despite, destroyed the whole breed, and it is 
now extinct.) 

" The mountains of this country also supply Saker 
falcons of excellent flight, and plenty of lanners like- 
wise. Beasts and birds for the chase are there in 
great abundance. Good wheat is grown, and also 
barley without husk. They have no olive oil, but 
make oil from sesame, and also from walnuts. 

" In this kingdom there are many strait and peril- 
ous passes, so difficult to force that the people have 
no fear of invasion. Their towns and villages are 
also on lofty hills, and in very strong positions. 
They are excellent archers, and much given to the 



MARCO POLO IN CENTRAL ASTA 23 

chase ; indeed, most of them are dependent for cloth- 
ing on the skins of beasts, for stuffs are very dear 
among tliem. The great ladies, however, are arrayed 
in stuffs, and I will tell you the style of their dress ! 
They all wear drawers made of cotton cloth, and into 
the making of these some will put sixty, eighty, or 
even one hundred ells of stuff. This they do to make 
themselves look large in the hips, for the men of those 
parts think that to be a great beauty in a woman. 

" You must know that ten days' journey to the 
south of Badashan there is a province called Pashai, 
the people of which have a peculiar language, and are 
idolaters, of a brown conaplexion. They are great 
adepts in sorceries and the diabolic arts. The men 
wear earrings and brooches of gold and silver, set 
with stones and pearls. They are a pestilent people 
and a crafty ; and they live upon flesh and rice. 
Their country is very hot. 

" Now let us proceed and speak of another country 
which is seven days' journey from this one toward 
the southeast, and the name of which is Keshimur 
[Cashmere]. 

" Keshimur also is a province inhabited by a peo- 
ple who are idolaters and have a language of their 
own. They have an astonishing acquaintance with 
the devilries of enchantment ; insomuch that they 
can make their idols to speak. They can also by their 
sorceries bring on changes of weather, and produce 
darkness, and do a number of things so extraordi- 
nary that no one without seeing them would believe 
them. 

" There are in this country Eremites (hermits, 



24 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

after the fashion of those parts), who dwell in seclu- 
sion and practise great abstinence in eating and drink- 
ing. Thej observe strict chastity, and keep from all 
sins forbidden in their law, so that they are regarded 
by their own folk as very holy persons. They live 
to a very great age. 

" There are also a number of idolatrous abbeys and 
monasteries. (The people of the province do not kill 
animals nor spill blood ; so if they want to eat meat, 
they get the Saracens who dwell among them to play 
the butcher.) The coral which is carried from our 
parts of the world has a better sale there than in 
other parts of the country. 

"jNow we will quit this country, and not go any 
farther in the same direction ; for if we did so we 
should enter India ; and that I do not wish to do at 
present. For on our return journey I mean to tell 
you about India, all in regular order. Let us go back, 
therefore, to Badashan, for we cannot otherwise pro- 
ceed on our journey. 

" In leaving Badashan you ride twelve days be- 
tween east and northeast, ascending a river [the 
Oxns] that runs through land belonging to a brother 
of the Prince of Badashan, and containing a good 
many towns and villages and scattered habitations. 
^ The people are Mahometans, and valiant in war. At 
the end of these twelve days you come to a province 
of no great size, extending indeed no more than three 
days' journey in any direction, and this is called Yok- 
han. The people worship Mahomet, and they have 
a peculiar language. They are gallant soldiers, and 
they have a chief whom they call None, which is as 



MARCO POLO IN CENTRAL A8IA 25 

much as to say County and they are liegemen of the 
Prince of Badashan. 

" There are numbers of wild beasts of all sorts in 
this region. And when you leave this little country, 
and ride three days northeast, always among moun- 
tains, you get to such a height that 'tis said to be the 
highest place in the world ! 

" The plain is called Pamier [Pamir, or Pamere], 
and you ride across it for twelve days together, find- 
ing nothing but a desert without habitations or any 
green thing, so that travellers are obliged to carry 
with them whatever they have need of. The region 
is so lofty and cold that you do not even see any 
birds flying. And I must notice also that, because 
of this great cold, fire does n'ot burn so brightly, nor 
give out so much heat as usual, nor does it cook food 
so effectually. 

" Cascar [Kashgar] is a region lying between 
northeast and east, and constituted a kingdom in 
former days, but now it is subject to the Great Khan. 
The people worship Mahomet. There are a good 
number of towns and villages, but the greatest and 
finest is Cascar itself. The inhabitants live by trade 
and handicrafts ; they have beautiful gardens and 
vineyards, and fine estates, and grow a great deal of 
cotton. 

" Yarcan [Yarkand] is a province five'days' jour- 
ney in extent. The people follow the law of Ma- 
homet, but there are also Nestorian and Jacobite 
Christians. They are subject to the same Prince I 
have mentioned, the Great Khan's nephew. They 
have plenty of everything, particularly of cotton. 



26 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

The inhabitants are also great craftsmen, but a large 
proportion of them have swollen legs, and great 
crops at the throat, which arises from some quality 
in their drinking-water. As there is nothing else 
worth telling, we may pass on. 

" Pein [Pima ?] is a province five days' in length, 
lying between east and northeast. The people are 
worshippers of Mahomet, and subjects of the Great 
Khan. There are a good number of towns and vil- 
lages, but the most noble is Pein, the capital of the 
kingdom. There are rivers in this country, in which 
quantities of jasper and chalcedony are found. The 
people have plenty of all products, including cotton. 
They live by manufactures and trade. But they 
have a custom that I must relate. If the husband 
of any woman go away upon a journey and remain 
away for more than twenty days, as soon as that 
term is past the woman may marry another man, and 
the husband also may then marry whom he pleases. 

" I should tell you that all the provinces that I 
have been speaking of, from Cascar forward, and 
those I am going to mention, as far as the city of 
Lop, belonging to Great Turkey. 

" Charchan [Chachan] is a province of Great Tur- 
key, lying between northeast and east. The people 
worship Mahomet. There are numerous towns and 
villages, and the chief city of the kingdom bears its 
name, Charchan. The province contains rivers which 
bring down jasper and chalcedony, and these are car- 
ried for sale into Cathay, where they bring great 
prices. When an army passes through the land, the 
people escape with their wives, children, and cattle, 




ililw^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 



iiiliiiiliiiillliiiiiiiiliiiliilliiiiliiiiiiiiiiw 



MARCO POLO IN CENTRAL ASIA 27 

a distance of two or three days' journey into the 
sandy waste ; and knowing the spots wiiere water 
is to be had, they are able to live there, and to keep 
their cattle alive, while it is impossible to discover 
them ; for the wind immediately blows the sand over 
their track. 

"And now I will tell you of a province called 
Lop, in which there is a city also called Lop, which 
you come to at the end of those five days. It is at 
the entrance of the Great Desert, and it is here that 
travellers repose before entering in the Desert. 

" Lop [Lob] is a large town at the edge of the 
Desert which is called the Desert of Lop [Gobi, or 
Shamo, on modern maps], and is situated between 
east and northeast. It belongs to the Great Khan, 
and the people worship Mahomet. Now, such per- 
sons as propose to cross the Desert take a week's rest 
in this town to refresh themselves and their cattle ; 
and then they make ready for the journey, taking 
with them a month's supply for man and beast. On 
quitting this city they enter the Desert. 

" There is a marvellous thing related of this Desert, 
which is that, when travellers are on the move by 
night, and one of them chances to lag behind or to 
fall asleep or the like, when he tries to gain his com- 
pany again he will hear spirits talking, and will sup- 
pose them to be his comrades. Sometimes the spirits 
will call him by name ; and thus shall a traveller oft- 
times be led astray so that he never finds his party. 
And in this way many have perished. Sometimes 
the stray travellers will hear, as it were, the tramp 
and hum of a great cavalcade of people away from 



28 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

the real line of road, and taking this to be their own 
company they will follow the sound ; and when day 
breaks they find that a cheat has been put on them 
and that they are in an ill-plight. Even in the day- 
time one hears those spirits talking. And sometimes 
you shall hear the sound of a variety of musical in- 
struments, and still more commonly the sound of 
drums. Hence in making this journey 'tis custom- 
ary for travellers to keep close together. All the 
animals, too, have bells at their necks, so that they 
cannot easily get astray. And at sleeping time a 
signal is put up to show the direction of the next 
march. 

" So thus it is that the Desert is crossed." 
This is Marco Polo's brief, yet remarkably correct, 
account of his journey from Badakhshan, on the 
Oxus, in Independent Tartarj^, to the westei-n extrem- 
ity of the Great Wall in China. It is remarkable that 
there is not a single custom or superstition which he 
mentions, that does not exist at the present day, or 
has been discovered to have existed, by later travel- 
lers. When we consider that his account was dic- 
tated from memory, unassisted by notes, at least 
twenty-five years after he made the journey, and 
after such a quantity of intervening adventures and 
experiences, his character as a veracious narrator is 
wonderfully vindicated. 

Still more remarkable is it, perhaps, that nearly 
six hundi'ed years should have elapsed since this 
journey through Central Asia, before any portion of 
the region was again trodden by the feet of a Euro- 
pean explorer. 



CHAPTER III. 

MODERN ATTEMPTS AT EXPLORATION 

TWO centuries after Marco Polo's journey, the 
discovery of Yasco de Gama completely changed 
tlie course of the commerce between Europe and the 
Indies. The long, toilsome, and perilous routes of 
overland travel were relinquished, with all their op- 
portunities for interior exploration ; the knowledge 
of the civilized world commenced anew along the 
coasts of the great eastern continent and slowly forced 
its way inward. 

The English conquests in India gradually ad- 
vanced the line of exploration, first to the base of 
the Himalayas, then westward along the range to 
the Indus, and finally to Cashmere and Afghanis- 
tan. From 1830 to 1840, when the East India 
Government concerned itself much more than was 
necessary in the affairs of the latter country, and 
with such disastrous results, the cities of Cabul, 
Ghuznee, Kandahar, and Herat were reached by 
English officers, and even some of the passes trav- 
ersed in the Hindoo Koosh, dividing Afghanistan 
from Tartary. 

One of these officers. Lieutenant John Wood, in 
the autumn of 1837, reached Balkh on a mission to 
the ruler of that Tartar principality. The lateness of 



30 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

the season obliged him to remain all winter there, 
before returning to Cabul, and he planned an expe- 
dition to the source of the Oxus, as daring in con- 
ception as it was successful in the result. Leaving 
Balkh with a very small part}^ and only the most 
necessary supplies, he made a winter journey on the 
track of Marco Polo, up the valley of the Oxus, vis- 
iting the celebrated ruby and turquoise mines of 
Fyzabad, on the way. In spite of the hardships of 
the road and the severity of the weather, in Febru- 
ary, 1838, he reached the source of tlie Oxus, the 
lake Sir-i-kol, on the tableland of Pamir, at an ele- 
vation of 15,630 feet above the sea. The lake was 
hard-frozen ; the meadows, inhabited in summer by 
the wandering Kirghizes, were deserted and covered 
with snow, and it was impossible to extend his ex- 
ploration beyond that point. 

Lieutenant Wood was the first European of mod- 
ern times to stand upon " the Roof of the World." 
It was at first supposed that this famous plateau was 
of moderate extent, and formed only by the uniting 
ridges of the Belor Dagh, Hindoo Koosh, and Kara- 
koram ranges ; but later researches show that it forms 
a broad, enormous tableland, nearly two hundred 
miles from north to south, and varying from 16,000 
to 18,000 feet above the sea. 

Mr. Hayward, who accompanied Shaw to Yarkand 
and Kashgar, and was murdered, in 1870, in tlie 
wild mountain region of Chitral (lying to the north- 
west of Cashmere), thus describes the eastern front 
of the Roof of the World, as seen from Yang-hissar, 
in East Turkestan : ''Contrary to the usual supposi- 



MODERN ATTEMPTS AT EXPLORATION 31 

tion, that the eastern edge of the plateau of Pamir 
falls gradually down to the plains of Turkestan, the 
mountain-chain, which forms this eastern edge, rises 
to a series of peaks near 21,000 feet in height, the 
flanks of which fall sheer and steep to the plain be- 
low. The chain thus presents a precipitous front 
toward the lowlands of East Turkestan, and it seems 
very improbable that any of the Pamir lakes have 
an outlet toward the east : all the waters of the 
tableland must flow westward, into the valley of 
the Oxus. It is not possible for any landscape to 
surpass in sublimity this mountain-chain, as it towers 
aloft like a gigantic wall, and prints the sharp out- 
lines of its snowy peaks and glaciers upon the deep 
bhie of the sky." 

At the same time that Lieutenant Wood made his 
expedition, Mr. G. T. Yigne, Fellow of the Geo- 
graphical Society, was employed in a series of ex- 
plorations in Cashmere, Baltistan, and Little Thibet. 
Cashmere had been twice or thrice visited before, by 
officials of the East India Company or travellers from 
Europe, but none before Mr. Yigne penetrated to 
Iskardo (the capital of Baltistan), on the Upper In- 
dus, or advanced so far into Thibet. As the mos** 
interesting portions of his narrative are given in ohe 
following chapters, we need only allude to him, in 
the order of research, at present. 

After the conquest of Ladak, or Little Thibet, by 
the Sikhs, in 1834, and its transfer, through English 
influence, to Golab Sing, the Rajah of Cashmere, 
the facilities of exploration were greatly increased. 
No extensive exploration of the country, however, 



32 TEA VELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

was undertaken, until the journey of tlie Brothers 
Schlagintweit, in 1856. 

Hermann, Adolf, and Eobert Schlagintweit, natives 
of Bavaria, devoted themselves, as young men, to the 
study of geology and physical geography. In 1854 
they were commissioned by the King of Prussia to 
make a scientific exploration of India. Their ser- 
vices were also accepted, and their plans materially 
assisted by the East India Company. Reaching 
Bombay toward the close of the year 1854, they 
first traversed the Deccan to Madras, by various 
routes. At the latter place, the. brothers separated, 
the following spring. Adolpli and Bobert proceeded 
to the northwestern extremity of India, and devoted 
themselves to the examination of the passes, glaciers, 
and mountain-system of the Himalaya ranges. They 
penetrated into Ladak, and there attempted to reach 
the summit of the Ibi-Gamin, one of the loftiest 
peaks. Although the attempt was unsuccessful, they 
succeeded in climbing to the height of 22,000 feet, 
an altitude never before attained by man on the sur- 
face of the earth. 

The three brothers met again at Simla, in I^orthern 
India, in May, 1856, and then set out together for 
Cashmere. They afterward visited Iskardo, made 
several excursions into the wild regions lying between 
tlie Upper Indus and the tableland of Pamir, and 
then explored the southern slopes of the great Kara- 
koram range, in Little Thibet. They ascertained that 
the peak of Dapsang, in this range, which has an 
elevation of 28,278 feet, is the second highest moun- 
tain of the globe. Finally, crossing the Karakoram 



jmil'''""' 




MODERN ATTEMPTS AT EXPLORATION 33 

by a pass nearly 19,000 feet above the sea, they were 
the first Europeans to behold the great range of the 
Kiien-liin — the last mountain-barrier guarding the 
countries of Central Asia. They still pushed forward 
and succeeded in crossing the Kiien-liin also ; and 
here, at the threshold of the most tenjpting field of 
exploration, they found it prudent to return. All 
then together made their way back to India, where 
Hermann and Kobert embarked for Europe in the 
spring of 1857. 

Adolf Schlagintweit, however, determined to take 
up the thread of discovery where it had been relin- 
quished, and to cross Central Asia to the Russian 
possessions lying north of the Tliian Shan. Reports 
of the successful Tartar rebellion against Chinese rule 
had already reached Little Thibet, and the time 
seemed to be propitious for such an attempt. He 
passed the Karakoram and the Kiien-liin in safety, 
made his way to Yarkand, but was not allowed to 
enter its walls, and then pushed onward toward Kash- 
gar. Although deserted by his Indian secretary and 
interpreter, and menaced with increasing danger as 
he advanced, he reached Kashgar and presented him- 
self to Walle Khan, the insurgent chieftain, who was 
then besieging the Chinese fort. "What happened 
then can never, perhaps, be correctly ascertained : the 
simple fact is that the unfortunate traveller was exe- 
cuted by Walle Khan's order. All attempts to re- 
cover his papers have proved fruitless. 



CHAPTEE IV. 

VIGNE'S JOURNEY TO CASHMERE 

MR. G. T. Yigne, one of the first and most 
tliorongli explorers of the valley of Cash- 
mere, and the wild and difficult mountain regions of 
the upper Indus, on the borders of Central Asia, left 
England in 1832, and travelled leisurely, by way of 
Constantinople, Armenia, and Persia, to India. 

In the summer of 1835, finally, he set out from 
Loodiana, in J^orthern India, on his way to Cashmere. 
Travelling slowly, by way of Bilaspore and Sultan- 
pore, he gradually penetrated into the mountain 
country of the Upper Sutlej ; which at that time was 
under the dominion of Punjeet Sing. 

The first part of the journey lay through those 
open valleys, among the Lower Himalayas, which are 
called Dhoons in India. The parallel and ever as- 
cending chains of the mountains were divided by 
spaces a few miles in width, where the rich bottom- 
lands were dotted with hillocks of sandstone, covered 
with forests of firs, and occasionally seamed with 
deep and stony ravines, down which the little streams 
foamed and sparkled on their way to add their 
tributes to the classic flood of the Indus. The path, 
which in many places showed the remains of a pave- 
ment made by the Mogul emperors, during the 



VIGNE'8 JOURNEY TO 0A8HMEUE 35 

golden days of Delhi and Cashmere, wound among 
the hollows and eminences of the jungle ; sometimes 
direct, smooth, and practicable for horses, then so 
rough and slippery that the traveller was obliged to 
dismount and make his way on foot. 

" The view," says Mr. Yigne, " was incessantly 
changing. The landmark of any description that I 
had noticed in the distance was often lost when I had 
sought for it from the opposite side of the dell ; one 
mountain-top was quickly hidden by another, and 
the recess between was often shut up by some unfore- 
seen but nearer object. 

^' The noble Trekotar, frowning over the castle of 
Rihursi and the debouchure of the Chunab River, 
would now become conspicuous, on account of its 
triple summit, and an elevation far exceeding what is 
usual among the lower hills upon the borders ; and 
the southern portion of the snowy Panjal of Cash- 
mere would now come in sight, bounding the pros- 
pect to the northward, and circling, like a mighty 
wall, around the celebrated valley beyond it, where 

' Summer, in a vale of flowers, 
Lay sleeping rosy at its feet.' 

" Upon the loftier division of the long, extended 
ridges of sandstone that crept along the plain parallel 
to the lower range, at a varying distance of ^ve, ten, 
or fifteen miles, were frequently to be seen the ruins 
of an ancient fortress, originally the residence of 
some chieftain, who probably owned no authority but 
that of the Moguls ; or the less picturesque but 



36 TBAYELS IN CENTRAL ASTA 

somewhat more scientifically bnilt strongholds of the 
Sikhs, with towers, curtains, loopholes, and embra- 
sures, an inaccessible precipice beneath them, with a 
thick jungle or a torrent at its foot. 

"The country had frequently been cleared to a 
very considerable extent, and large open spaces in 
the valleys were occupied by numerous corn-fields and 
rice-grounds, continued in plateaux up the slope, in 
order to obtain the benefit of irrigation from the de- 
scending stream. Conspicuous tojoes, or clusters of 
the larger trees, were scattered over the country ; the 
sacred peepul marked the locality of the Devi, or 
Hindoo shrine ; the cattle chewed the cud in security 
around it ; the dark-green and massive foliage of the 
mango-trees threw a perpetual and grateful shade 
upon the village and the village well ; while the ban- 
yan, so beautifully described by Milton, dropped its 
dusty and fantastic branches within the clefts and 
interstices of the antiquated masonry by which the 
latter was encircled. 

" But the indications of collective dwelling were 
not to be gathered only from the eye ; for, as I 
approached a village, I frequently heard a loud and 
discordant sound of voices in advance of me, and soon 
found that it proceeded from a dozen or two of old 
women, who were drawn up in line, linked together 
by their arms thrown around each other's necks, and 
who in this manner screamed forth (I cannot call it 
singing) a chorus, the words of which, I believe, con- 
tained a greeting to the passing stranger, and an ap- 
peal to his humanity for relief." 

After a further journey of four or ^we days, pass^ 



VIGNE'8 JOURNEY TO CASHMERE 37 

ing by some small but beautiful lakes, which are con- 
sidered holy places by the Hindoos, Mr. Yigne ap- 
proached the town of Jamu, on the borders of Cash- 
mere. The Rajah, Golab Sing, sent him a palanquin 
for the last stage of the road, but he preferred enter- 
ing the place on horseback. On arriving at Jamu, 
quarters were assigned to him in a garden below the 
hill on which the palace is built. " In the evening,'' 
he writes, " Urjura Sing, the eldest son of the Rajah, 
came to pay me a visit. He seemed to have an in- 
clination to corpulency, had regular features, but a 
round full face, and a heavy look. He was, never- 
theless, said to be a young man of excellent abilities ; 
but an assumed and stupid air of indifference was 
upon him during our interview, though I attempted, 
through the medium of my interpreter, to draw him 
out in conversation. It is often observable in the 
East, that an imperturbable countenance, and an 
apparent carelessness of what is going forward, do 
duty for greatness and dignity ; and I have usually 
remarked that among men in power, those who 
laugh and talk like Europeans, and are the least con- 
strained in their deportment, are the best and most 
superior men. 

" The next morning I ascended to the palace by a 
long paved way that led up the hill. 

" The court-yard of the palace was alive with the 
crowds of officers and attendants, gorgeously appar- 
elled in red and yellow shawls and silks, and armed 
with spears, swords, shields, and matchlocks. Two 
guns were discharged close to me, just as I entered, 
by way of salute ; and Golab Sing received nic iu the 



38 TBAVBLS IN GBNTBAL ASIA 

open, pillared hall of the palace, and excused him- 
self for not having called upon me, by saying that he 
had caught a rheumatism and stiffness in the limbs, 
in consequence of marching with Runjeet Sing to 
Peshawur ; all of which he supposed I should believe, 
as well as the assertion which he shortly afterward 
made, that his ancestors had reigned at Jamu for five 
thousand years ! 

" He afterward asked me whether it was true that 
the king of France paid tribute to the king of Eng- 
land, and some other questions equally absurd, by 
way of ascertaining whether I was disposed to deceive 
him. He exhibited his arms and discussed their va- 
rious merits. Among them were some bell-mouthed 
blunderbusses, one of which he loaded and fired in 
the usual manner. It cannot be rested against the 
shoulder, as it carries a heavy charge, but is held low, 
at arm's length, by both hands, one grasping the bar- 
rel and the other the stock, so that it may swing as it 
recoils ; the right leg being kicked up behind in a 
very ridiculous manner at the same time." 

The country rapidly became more wild and 
broken ; the precipitous ascents and descents made 
the road very fatiguing, and there were frequent 
chasms which must be crossed by rope bridges. Mr. 
Yigne attempted to sketch three women whom lie 
met ; but no sooner had he commenced than they 
ran away, climbed some trees with the activitj^ of 
monkeys, and could not be induced to come down 
again. He gives the following description of the 
native villages : " They are clusters of flat-roofed 
huts, the poorer kinds looking very dirty, with 




VIG^B'S JOTJRNET TO GA8HMEBE 39 

smoke marks on the walls, and cakes of cow-dung 
sticking to them, for the purpose of being dried and 
used as fuel. The better kind of hut is distinguished 
by its new and clean mud walls : the ends of the 
rafters project neatly from the sides of the building, 
and the roof itself is free from holes, except the one 
used as a chimney. 

" On the roofs, and around and below, are to be 
seen men scarcely clothed, sitting, sleeping, cooking, 
and eating ; women spinning, knitting, and kneading, 
or combing and braiding their own black and well- 
oiled hair. Children amuse themselves with quarrel- 
ling and grovelling in the dust, in company with dogs 
and poultry. The best-dressed man in the village is 
usually the shopkeeper, who may be seen sitting on 
his shop-board, with his bowl of copper and cowries 
for small change, and heaps of flour, Indian corn, red- 
pepper, spices, and other articles of Indian cookery. 

" The common wants of travellers, of whatever 
faith, country, or calling, oblige them to halt near a 
well for the night. There the itinerant merchant 
cooks his supper, places a guard over his merchan- 
dise, and lies down to rest ; and the sepoy on leave, 
the robber by profession, and the Thug* disguised 
as best suits his purpose for the morrow, are soon in 
a state of repose. The pious follower of Mahomet 
is seen bending and bowing at his evening prayers, 
rising from them more probably a better Mussulman 
than a better man ; the Brahmin, distinguished by 

* Since 1831 energetic measures have been in force for the sup- 
pression of Thuggee, which is now nearly, or quite, extinct in 
British India. 



40 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

tlie string which is a sign of his caste, mutters his 
prayers as he performs his ablutions; and the Hin- 
doo fakeer, witli his person plastered over with mnd, 
and the wild and ferocious expression of his counte- 
nance rendered more sinister by the use of hasheesh 
and opinm, is often to be seen for days togetlier in 
the same place near the w^ell, because he is awai-e 
that the sanctity of his character and appearance will 
secure him alms, or a supply of food, from those who 
must resort to it." 

The next place Mr. Yigne reached was Rajawur, 
where he was very well received by the Rajah, a 
strongly made, intelligent man, who had six toes on 
each foot. 

Eleven miles beyond Rajawur is the town of 
Thana, at the foot of the lofty Panjal range, which 
separates the vale of Cashmere from the plains of 
India. After leaving Thana, the ascent of the first 
range soon begins, and the traveller and his path are 
hidden in the recesses of the jungle. To continue 
Mr. Yigne's narrative : " The first object I remarked 
was a well, with some old equestrian reliefs on the 
stonework around it ; then, upon turning a corner, I 
saw some old and tattered garments by the wayside, 
and a human foot, the remnant of a body that had 
been devoured by jackals, vultures, and hyenas. I 
found afterward that not a day passed while I was 
on the way to Cashmere, and even when travelling 
in the valley, that I did not see the bleached remains 
of some unfortunate wretch who had fallen a victim 
either to sickness or starvation. 

" I halted to sketch the view, and then commenced 



VIONE'S JOURNEY TO CASHMERE 41 

the descent to Barumgnlii, the ' defile of rains ' — re- 
joicing in the sight of snow, which was now so near 
me, and invigorated by the mere reflection that I 
should cross the Paiijal on the third day afterward. 
A lofty forest of pines and deodars covered the whole 
face of the mountains in the foreground. The horse- 
chestnut tree was also very numerous, and the bark 
upon its long straight stem was split into flakes, and 
curled so as to bear a strong resemblance to that of 
the hickory in the American forests. 

" Beyond Barumguln, the elevation of which above 
the sea is 6,800 feet, the way to Cashmere continues 
northward, up the bed of a stream which descends 
the ravine with great impetuosity. 

" It is customary, for those who can afford it, to 
sacrifice a sheep or goat before ascending to the Pan- 
jal summit, and the head is carried to the fakeer, 
who lives in a stone hut close to the tower, during 
the summer months. I complied with the custom, 
at the request of the Mahometan part of my retinue ; 
the priest said a prayer for a safe ascent on the mor- 
row, and the goat was immediately made lawful eat- 
ing, that is, had its throat cut under a white flag in 
front of my quarters. 

" There was another steep but not very long dip 
into a valley, and on the opposite side of it com- 
menced an ascent, which hardly ceased until it 
reached the summit of the Panjal. The path was 
in very good condition, and I was able to ride nearly 
the whole distance. An hour's travel from Poshiana 
brought me to the edge of the lowest snow, which 
was arched and hardened over a small stream of its 

4 



42 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

own creation. The forest began to be njucli thinned, 
but vegetation was still profuse, and roses and many 
other wild flowers were in full bloom. The hill, near 
the summit, is bare of trees, but a fine turf is visible 
where the snow has melted. Another final ascent, 
and I suddenly found mj'self on the summit of the 
Pir Panjal. 

" The view from the Panjal in the direction of 
the plains, is, of course, magnificent. The different 
ranges which I had crossed on the way, and even 
the points where I had crossed them, were visible in 
the distance. I looked down on the roofs of Poshi- 
ana, where I had slept, and could distinguish the 
situation, and even the buildings and smoke, of 
Pajawui*. Indistinctness pervaded every part of the 
gray-colored expanse of the plains, and I vainly 
tried, with my telescope, to detect the minarets of 
imperial Lahore, which may be perceived with the 
naked eye in very clear weather, though about one 
hundred and thirty miles distant. 

" The limit of forest, or the height above which 
forest-trees will not grow, as laid down by Hodgson 
and others from their observations in Alpine India, 
on the east of the Sutlej, is 11,500 feet. The sum- 
mit of the Panjal Pass is about three hundred feet 
above the limit of forest ; my thermometer gave me 
about twelve thousand feet ; so that I am justified in 
laying down its height at 11,800 feet, or thereabouts. 
The temperature at mid-day, July 16th, was QQ°. 
Birches and firs seemed to contend for the highest 
place ; the birch has the best of it generally. Above 
this, the only plant that I remember in the shape of 



VIGNE'8 JOURNEY TO GA8HMERE 43 

a tree is the dwarf juniper, and this is to be seen at 
different altitudes, up to 12,000 feet, on the moun- 
tains around Cashmere and in Thibet. Tlie descent 
from the Panjal toward the vale of Cashmere, which 
is very gentle, commences immediately, and the 
snow-capped mountain tops are divided by an in- 
clined and verdant plain, on which bloomed numer- 
ous varieties of flowers. Among them I joyfully 
noticed many that were common in England ; and 
as I trod the green carpet beneath me, I found my- 
self refreshed by inhaling the cool breeze richly bur- 
dened with all the perfume of an English clover-field. 

" The defile on the northern side is extremely 
narrow, and the stream occupies the whole of the 
space between its banks ; but it soon afterward opens 
on a splendid view. Finally, after crossing the 
stream by a wooden bridge, I found myself at the 
small village of Huripore, where the steepness of the 
descent ceases. The next morning, after proceed- 
ing for two or three miles through the woods, the 
plains of Cashmere came full in sight. The lofty 
mountains on the other side of the valley, distant 
from thirty to thirty-five miles, were shrouded in 
clouds, and a part only of the snowy ridge, with a 
few isolated peaks, were to be seen here and there at 
intervals. 

" The first object on nearing Shupeyon, the next 
town, was a wooden mosque, by the w^ayside, whence 
there is a view in the direction of the city of Cash- 
mere. This mosque is of the same pattern as that 
which I afterward found to be common throughout 
the valley. It partakes of the aspect and architect- 



44 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

lire of the pagodas of China, but the slope of the roof 
is straight instead of being concave. 

" The valley of Cashmere is generally a verdant 
plain, ninety miles in length and twentj^-five miles in 
its greatest width, at the southern end, between the 
cataract of Arabiil and the ruins of the great temple 
of Martund ; suiTounded on every side by snowy 
mountains, into which there are numerous inlets, 
forming glens on a level with the plain, but each 
with a lofty pass at its upper extremity. There are 
many elevated points of view from which this ex- 
traordinary hollow gave me, at first sight, an idea 
of its having been originally formed by the falling in 
of an exhausted volcanic region. 

" The interest taken in a view of the valley of 
Cashmere would certainly be rather that of the agri- 
culturist than of the prospect-hunter ; but nothing- 
can be more truly sylvan than the greater part of the 
mountain scenery. It has not, however, the verdure 
of the tropics. The trees, it is true, in many in- 
stances, may differ from those of Europe ; but with 
the exception of occasional beautiful masses of deodars, 
the aspect of the forest, at a little distance, is wholly 
European. Looking from the hill of Shupeyon, in- 
numerable villages were scattered over the plains in 
every direction, distinguishable in the extreme dis- 
tance by the trees that surrounded them : all was soft 
and verdant, even up to the snow on the mountain-top; 
and I gazed in surprise, excited by the vast extent and 
admirably defined limits of the valley, and the almost 
perfect proportions of height to distance, by which its 
scenery appeared to be universally characterized." 



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CHAPTEK y. 

THE VALLEY OF CASHMERE AND THE RUINS OF 

MARTUND 

MR. yiGNE is a confused and somewhat perplex- 
ing narrator. The thread of his journey is 
constantly lost amid a multitude of small geographical 
details, and interwoven with tlie accounts of other 
journeys, made in other seasons, in the same region. 
We shall, therefore, endeavor to select those passages 
which possess the most interest and value, concerning 
the vale of Cashmere, and resume the direct narra- 
tive when we. find the traveller compelled, by the 
nature of his subject, to confine himself to it. 

In passing onward through the valley, Mr. Yigne * 
encountered scenes of ruin and desolation in striking 
contrast with its natural beauty and fertility. Earth- 
quake, cholera, famine, and the invasions of Runjeet 
Sing, had terribly devastated the once thickly peopled 
country. Many of the houses were tenantless and 
deserted ; the fruit was dropping unheeded from the 
trees ; the orchards were overgrown with a profusion 
of wild hemp and wild indigo ; but the graveyards 
were still covered with blue and white iris- flowers, 

* Mr. Vigne's visit was shortly after the Sikh conquest of Cash- 
mere, which accounts for the ruined state of the country at the 
time. 



46 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

which are always planted over thein, partly for orna- 
ment, and partly because the roots, being matted to- 
gether, prevent the turf from falling in. Enough re- 
mained, however, to show how neat and comfortable 
the villages had once been. There was always a 
clear, rapid brook at hand, with green turf on its 
banks, shaded by fine walnut-trees, and the Iryn, re- 
sembling the English elm. Around the base of the 
gigantic chunar-trees there was always a raised bench 
of wood or stone, for the village gossips, a few of 
whom still lingered in their half- deserted homes — 
some sleeping, and others praying, or smoking. 

"I have been twice in Cashmere when the new 
snow has fallen," says Mr. Yigne, ajprojpos of a de- 
scription of some of the other mountain passes. 
" About December 10th the summits of the Panjal 
are enveloped in a thick mist, and the snow usually 
falls before the 20th. This is the great fall which 
usually closes the passes for the winter. It frequently 
happens that a casual fall takes place a month or three 
weeks earlier : this remains on the ground for three 
or four days, and then disappears before the sun. I 
am now speaking, of the snow upon the plains of 
Cashmere. It occasionally falls on the mountains as 
early as September, and the cold blasts which it pro- 
duces do great injury to the later rice-crops. 

" They have a custom throughout these countries, 
which answers in some respects to what we call mak- 
ing an April fool. When the new snow falls, one 
person will try to deceive another into holding a lit- 
tle in his hand ; and accordingly he will present it to 
him (making some remark by way of a blind at the 



THE VALLEY OF CASHMERE 47 

same time) concealed in a piece of clotli, or a stick, or 
an apple, folded in the leaves of a book, or wrapped 
up in a letter. If the person inadvertently takes what 
is thus presented to him, the other has a right to 
show him the snow he has thus received, and to rub 
it in his face, or to pelt him with it, accompanied by 
the remark : ' New snow is innocent ! ' and to de- 
mand, also, a forfeit of an entertainment, or a dance, 
or some other boon, of the person he has deceived. 
The most extreme caution is, of course, used by every- 
one upon that day. 

" On the highest part of the plain, where it com- 
mences a rise to its junction with the mountains, are 
situated the ruins of the Hindoo temple of Martund, 
or Surya (the Sun), or, as it is commonly called, the 
' Pandoo-Koroo,' or the house of the Pandoos and 
Koroos— of whom it is not necessary to say more 
than that they are the Cyclops of the East. Every 
old building of whose origin the poorer classes of 
Hindoos, in general, have no information, is believed 
to have been the work of the Pandoos. As an iso- 
lated ruin, this deserves, on account of its solitary and 
massive grandeur, to be ranked, not only as the first 
ruin of the kind in Cashmere, but as one of the no- 
blest among the architectural relics of antiquity which 
are to be seen in any country. Its noble and exposed 
situation at the foot of the hills reminded me of that 
of the Escurial: it has no forest of cork-trees and 
evergreen oaks before it, nor is it to be compared in 
point of size to that stupendous building ; but it is 
visible from as great a distance, and the Spanish Si- 
erras cannot for a moment be placed in competition 



48 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

with the verdant magnificence of the mountain scen- 
ery of Cashmere. 

'' The greater part of the old ruins in Cashmere 
were built between the times of Asoka (250 b.c.) and 
the end of the reign of Avante Yerma, in a.d. 875 ; 
but the same style is apparent in all of them, and the 
same formation of the arch has been followed in all. 
The style of architecture used in the religious build- 
ings in Europe for the first thousand years of the 
Christian period is the Romanesque ; and much of 
the description of it by Professor Whewell appears to 
me to apply generally to the buildings in Cashmere. 
Few of these ruins, I should say, if any, were Budd- 
hist ; those in or upon the edge of the water were 
rather, I should suppose, referable to the worship of 
the N^agas, or snake-gods. 

" 1 had been struck with the great general resem- 
blance which the temple bore to the recorded disposi- 
tion of the ark, and its surrounding curtains, in imi- 
tation of which the temple at Jerusalem was built ; 
and it became for a moment a question whether the 
Cashmerian temples had not been built by Jewish 
architects, who had recommended them to be con- 
structed on the same plan, for the sake of conveni- 
ence merely. It is, however, a curious fact that in 
Abyssinia, the ancient Ethiopia, whicli was also called 
Knsh, the ancient Christian churches, as I am in- 
formed by Mr. Wolff, are not unlike those of Cash- 
mere. 

" As I would conclude from its insulated situation, 
its climate, and other advantages alone, that Cashmere 
has been a place of consequence froni the very earlj- 



THE VALLEY OF OASHMEItE 49 

est ages, so would I also infer that its architecture, or 
some of its peculiarities, like that of Egypt, is more 
likely to have afforded a prototype than to be a copy 
of any known style ; and that it may be pronounced 
to be peculiar to the valley. I, at least, know of noth- 
ing exactly like it in Hindustan, nor anything resem- 
bling it in any country to the westward of the Indus. 
" Without being able to boast, either in extent or 
magnificence, of an approach to equality with the 
temple of the sun at Palmyra, or the ruins of the 
palace at Persepolis, the Pandoo-Koroo of Martund 
is not without pretensions to a locality of scarcely 
inferior interest, and deserves to be ranked with them, 
as the leading specimen of a gigantic style of archi- 
tecture that has decayed with the religion it was in- 
tended to cherish, and the prosperity of a country 
which it could not but adorn. In situation it is far 
superior to either : Palmyra is surrounded by an 
ocean of sand, and Persepolis overlooks a marsh ; but 
the Temple of the Sun, or Martund, is built on a 
natural platform at the foot of some of the noblest 
mountains, and beneath its ken lies what is undoubt- 
edly the finest and most picturesque valley in the 
known world. The prospect from the green slope 
behind it is seen to the greatest advantage upon the 
approach of evening, when tlie whole landscape is yet 
in sunshine, but about to undergo a change ; when the 
broad daylight still rests upon the snowy peaks of the 
Panjal, but commences a retreat before their widen- 
ing shadows in the valley beneath them. The lumi- 
nous and yellow spot in which we recognize the 
foliage of the distant chunar-tree is suddenly extin- 



50 TBAVEL8 IN CENTRAL ASIA 

guished ; village after village becomes wrapped in 
comparative obscurity ; and the last brilliant beams 
of an Asiatic setting sun repose for a while upon the 
gray walls that seem to have been raised on purpose 
to receive them, and display the ruins of their own 
temple in the boldest and most beautiful relief. 

" Though there are, perhaps, not less than seventy 
or eighty of these old Hindoo buildings in the valley, 
yet, after having seen Martund, there are but four or 
fivQ others of sufficient interest to claim a visit from 
the traveller." 



CHAPTER YI. 

' SRINAGUR, THE CAPITAL OF CASHMERE— CITY, EN- 
VIRONS, SHAWLS, AND INHABITANTS 

THE town of Islamabad is situated on the river 
Jelum, which rises within the valley of Cash- 
mere, and a boat, with good rowers, will descend to 
the famous city of Srinagur, the capital, in twelve 
hours. The traveller, however, sees little except 
mud-banks of ten to twentv feet in heio:ht, which 
effectually shut out any prospect, except that of the 
mountain-tops. 

" As I approached the city," says Mr. Yigne, " I 
was struck by the Tukt-i-Suliraan (Throne of Solo- 
mon), an isolated hill, about three-quarters of a mile 
in length, and four hundred and fifty feet in height, 
bare of trees, but covered with long grass where the 
rock permitted it to grow. It is divided from the 
mountains by a wide ravine, from which opens a 
view of the city lake, and through which is constantly 
blowing a breeze that must tend to prevent stagna- 
tion of its waters. This singular hill is called by the 
Hindoos Sir-i-Shur, of Siva's head, in contradistinc- 
tion to Huri-Purbut, the Hill of Huri, or Yishnu, on 
the opposite side of the city. 

" Softness, mantling over the sublime, is the pre- 
vailing characteristic of the scenery of Cashmere ; 



52 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

verdure and forest appear to have deserted the coun- 
tries on the northward, in order to embellish the 
slopes from its snowy mountains, give additional 
richness to its plains, and combine with its delightful 
climate to render it not unworthy of the rhyming 
epithets applied to it in the East : 

* Kashmir^ hi-nuzir — without an equal ; 
Kashmir i junat puzi — equal to Paradise/ 

" Beautiful, indeed, is the panoramic view that 
meets the eye of the spectator from the Throne of 
Solomon, and which, taken far and near, is one 

* sweet interchange 
Of hill and valley, rivers, woods, and plains, 
Now land, now lake, and shores with forest crowned, 
Eocks, dens, and caves.' 

" The city, which lies to the northwest, may be 
said to commence at the foot of this hill ; and on 
the other side of it, two miles to the northward, is 
the fort of Cashmere, built upon Huri-Purbut, whose 
top is about two hundred and fifty feet above the 
level of the lake, which occupies the space that inter- 
venes between these two ' portals of light ' and the 
mountains surrounding the valley. 

" The aspect of the city itself is curious, but not 
particularly striking. It presents an innumerable 
assemblage of house-gables, interspersed with the 
pointed and metallic tops of mosques, melon-grounds, 
sedgy inlets from the lake, and narrow canals, fringed 
with rows of willows and poplars. The surface of 
the lake itself is perfectly tranquil, and the very 



SRIN^AOUB, THE CAPITAL OF CASHMERE 53 

vivid reflections which cover its surface are only dis- 
turbed by the dabbling of wild fowl, or the ripple 
that follows the track of the distant boat. At one 
glance we have before us the whole of the local pict- 
ures described in ' Lalla Rookh.' 

" The river passes within half a mile of the foot 
of Solomon's Throne, and is nearly two hundred and 
fifty yards in breadth before it enters the city. An 
avenue of poplars, nearly a mile in length, runs 
through the corn-fields parallel to it, from the foot 
of the Throne to the Amir's bridge, close to w^iich 
is the city fort, or residence of the governor, at the 
entrance of the city, where the stream narrows to 
about eighty yards. Beyond the bridge we trace it 
to the northwest, by occasional glimpses, nearly as 
far as the Great Lake, which is twenty miles distant. 
The hoary range of the Panjal, in front, is joined 
with the mountains of Kishtawar on the south, and 
on the northwest is continued into the still loftier 
snow-peaks of Durawar, on the left bank of the In- 
dus, so as to form but one vast mural cordillera, and 
a fitting boundary for the noblest . valley in the 
world. 

" Noor Jehan (the light of the world), the Nour- 
mahal (light of the palace) of ' Lalla Rookh,' is the 
most renowned name in the valley, that of her au- 
gust consort, Jehangir, not excepted. In spite of the 
more authentic story of her birth, the Cashmerians 
would have us believe that she was a native of the 
valley. The new mosque in the city was built by 
her, and is, in fact, the only edifice of the kind that 
can vie in general aspect and finish with the splendor 



54 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

of the pearl mosque, at Agra. The interior of the 
building is about sixtj-four 3'ards in length, and of 
proportionate breadth, the roof being supported by 
two rows of massive square piers, running through 
the entire length of the building, the circular com- 
partments between them being handsomely ribbed 
and vaulted. Wlien I was in Cashmere it was used 
as a granary or storehouse for lice. 

" The mosque of Shah Ham ad an occupies a con- 
spicuous situation on the bank of the river, in the 
midst of the oiiy. His story, as believed by the 
Mussulmans, is as follows : Tamerlane was one night 
wandering in disguise about the streets of his capital 
(Samarkand), and overheard an old man and his 
wife talking over their prospects of starvation ; upon 
which he took off an armlet, threw it to them, and 
departed unseen. A pretended syud, or descendant 
of the prophet, asked them how they came by the 
armlet, and accused them of having stolen it. The 
matter was made known to Tamerlane, who very 
sagaciously^ decreed that the owner must be the per- 
son who could produce the fellow-armlet. He then 
displayed it in his own possession, and ordered the 
accuser to undergo the ordeal of hot iron, which 
he refused, and was put to death in consequence. 
Tamerlane, moreover, put to death all the other pre- 
tended syuds in the country. One named Shah 
Hamadan, who really was a descendant of the 
prophet, accused Tamerlane of impiety, told him 
that he would not remain in his country, and by 
virtue of his sanctity vsras able to transport himself 
throuii:h the air to Cashmere. He descended where 



SRINAGUB, TSE CAPITAL OF CASHMERE 55 

the mosque now stands, and told the Hindoo fakeer, 
wlio had possession of the spot, to depart. The lat- 
ter refused, vvhei'eupon Shah Hamadan said that if 
he would bring him news from heaven he would then 
believe in him. The fakeer, who had the care of 
numerous idols, immediately despatched one of them 
toward heaven, upon which Shah Hamadan kicked 
his slipper after it with such force that the idol fell 
to the ground. He then asked the fakeer how he 
became so great a man. The latter replied, bj doing 
charitable actions, and thereupon Shah Hamadan 
thought him worthy of being made a convert to 
Islam. 

" The Mar canal is, perhaps, the most curious place 
in the city : it leaves the small lake at the northeast 
corner, and boats pass along, as at Venice. Its nar- 
I'owness, for it does not exceed thirty feet in width, 
its walls of massive stone, its heavy single-arch 
bridges and landing-places of the same material, the 
gloomy passages leading down upon it, betoken the 
greatest antiquity ; while the lofty and many-storied 
houses that rise directly from the water, supported 
only by thin trunks of deodar, seem ready to fall 
down upon the boat with every gust of wind. It 
could not but remind me of the old canals in Yenice, 
and although far inferior in architectural beauty, is, 
perhaps, of equal singularity. 

" In a division of the lake called Kutawal, the far- 
famed floating gardens of Cashmere are anchored, or 
rather pinned to the ground by means of a stake. 
These, however, are very '?m-Lalla Rookhish in ap- 
pearance, not being distinguishable from beds of 



56 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

reeds aud rushes. Their construction is extremely 
simple, and they are made long and narrow, that 
thej may be the more easily taken in tow. A float- 
ing garden, ten yards long by two or three in width, 
may be purchased for a rupee (fifty cents). Mr. 
Moorcroft has well described the manner in which 
these gardens are made. The weeds at the bottom, 
cut by means of a scythe, rise and float on the sur- 
face ; these are matted together, secured, and strewed 
with soil and manure ; a protecting fence of rushes 
is allowed to spring up around them, and upon this 
platform a number of conical mounds or heaps of 
weeds are constructed, about two feet in height. On 
the tops of these is placed some soil from the bottom 
of the lake ; the melon and cucumber plants are set 
upon it, and no further care is necessary. 

" Cashmere is known to us chiefly through its fa- 
mous shawls, of which it produces annually about 
30,000. Those of the finest quality bring, in Lon- 
don, from £100 to £400 each. Near 16,000 looms 
are continually employed in their manufacture. 

" There are now," wrote Mr. Yigne at that time, 
"but five or six hundred shawl-frames in the city. 
(This great reduction was the result of the Sikh 
conquest. Prosperity has since been restored.) For- 
merly they were infinitely more numerous. It occu- 
pies six or seven frames, of two men at each, for six 
months, to make a pair of very large and handsome 
shawls. Runjeet Sing ordered a pair to be made, 
with patterns representing his victories, and paid 
down 5,000 rupees, after deducting the duties. 
Only one of these was finished. The J9(967im, or 



8RINAQUR, THE CAPITAL OF CASHMERE 57 

shawl wool, is found upon the goats which are pas- 
tured upon the elev^ated plains of Ladak, or Little 
Thibet. It is undoubtedly a provision of nature 
against the intense cold to which thej are exposed, as 
it is found not only on the common goat, but also on 
the yak and the shepherd's dog. Its color is a dark, 
dull, brownish maroon. T\\q 2>oshin is a cotton-like 
down, which grows close to the skin, under the usual 
coating of hair. The shawl-goat has produced j^t^^A?/^ 
in England, but I believe that the quantity will 
diminish with each succeeding generation, as the 
climate is not cold enough to demand such a defence 
from nature. 

" The Cashmerian merchants purchase the wool in 
Leh, at the rate of eighty small handfuls for a small 
rupee (thirty-five cents). It is then cleaned on the 
spot, and only one part in four is fit for the purposes 
of the weaver. When it arrives in Cashmere the 
governor takes possession of it, and sells it again to 
the merchants, at twenty per cent, profit on their 
whole expenses, he keeping the difference for him- 
self. The white jposhni may then be purchased in 
the city at about four small rupees ($1.40) for two 
pounds. The thread is then dyed of different colors, 
and of these they use about forty different kinds. 
Their blues and purples are made chiefly from in- 
digo ; their yellows from an Indian flower and a 
kind of native grass ; their blacks from iron filings 
and wild pomegranate skins, from which also a light 
brown is obtained ; their reds from logwood and a 
native wood ; a drab from walnut hulls ; and it will 
scarcely be believed that the finest of their greens, 



58 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

and a light blue also, are extracted from English 
green baize. 

^'All the thread used in making a large pair of 
shawls does not weigh more than fifteen or twenty 
pounds, and may be purchased for one hundred and 
twenty to one hundred and fifty small i"upees (.$40 to 
$50). After the thread is dyed, it is dipped in rice- 
water, a process which makes it stronger, and fits it 
to be more safely moved by the shuttle, and the 
stiffness is removed by washing. The undyed shawl 
stuff, which sells at five rupees the yard, is called 
ubra, from uh^ a cloud. When made with colored 
stripes or flowers on it, the long under-coats of the 
Persians are made f i-om this stuff. If the pattern be 
worked with the needle, the shawl is far inferior in 
every respect to those in which the pattern is woven 
in. 

" As soon as a shawl is made, notice is given to the 
inspector, and none can be cut from the loom but in 
his presence. It is then taken to the custom-house 
and stamped, a price is put upon it by the proper 
officer, and twenty-five per cent, on the price is de- 
manded. When it is purchased, and about to leave 
the valley with its owner, the latter has to pay an- 
other four rupees for permit duty, and another seal, 
which enables him to pass with his property ; but he 
is afterward subjected to further duties. It is neces- 
sary to wash the shawls, in order to deprive them 
of the stiffness of the rice-starch remaining in the 
thread, and for the purpose of softening them gener- 
ally. The best water for this use is found in the 
apple-tree canal, between the lake and the flood- 



SRINAOUR, THE CAPITAL OF CASHMERE 59 

gates. After being wet and stamped upon bj naked 
feet for ^yq minutes, the sliawl is taken into the 
canal by a man standing in the water : one end is 
gathered up in his hand, and the shawl swung round 
and beaten with great force on a flat stgne, being 
dipped into the canal between every three or four 
strokes. This occupies about five minutes. They 
are then dried in the shade, as the hot sun spoils the 
colors. 

" Old shawls that require cleaning, and in some 
instances new ones, are washed by means of the 
freshly-gathered root of a parasitical plant, called 
kritz. A pound of it is bruised and mixed with 
three pints of w^ater, and to this is added a quantity 
of pigeon dung, mixed and beaten up with about 
the same amount of water. The shawl is then satu- 
rated with the liquor, stamped upon, w^ashed with the 
hand, and then well steeped in the canal. The colors 
of a shawl, after it has been washed, are often re- 
newed so well as to deceive any but the initiated, by 
pricking them in again with a wooden pin, dipped in 
the requisite tints. 

"The broker who transacts business between the 
shawl manufacturer and the merchant, is a person of 
great importance in the city, and the manner in 
which their transactions are carried on is rather sin- 
gular. They have correspondents in most of the 
larger cities of Hindustan, whose business it is to 
collect and forward every species of information con- 
nected with their trade. By their means they sel- 
dom fail to hear of any merchant who is about to 
start for Cashmere, even from such a distance as Cal- 



60 TRAVELS TN CENTRAL A8TA 

cutta, and, if he be a rich man, the broker will send 
as far as Delhi to. meet him, and invite him to be- 
come liis guest during his sojourn in the vallev. 
Perhaps, again, when the merchant, half dead with 
fatigue and cold, stands at length on the snowy sum- 
mit of the Panjal, or either of the other mountain 
passes, he is suddenly amazed by finding there a 
servant of the broker, who has kindled a fire ready 
for his reception, hands him a hot cup of tea, a dish 
of food, a delicious pipe, and a note containing a 
fresh and still more pressing invitation from his 
mastei'. Such well-timed civility is irresistible : his 
heart and boots thaw together, and lie at once r.ccepts 
the hospitality of the broker, who it may be is await- 
ing the traveller, with a friendly luig, at the bottom 
of the pass, two or three days' journey from the city, 
to which lie obsequiously conducts him. He finds 
himself at home, at the house of his new friend, and 
himself and servants studiously provided with all- 
they can require. Plis host, of course, takes care to 
repay himself in the end. He has an understand- 
ing with the shawl mannfacturers who frequent his 
house, so that the guest is at the mercy of both 
parties, and should he quarrel with the broker, hop- 
ing to make a purchase without his intervention, he 
would find it impossible. 

'• j^o shawl-vender can by any possibility be in- 
duced to display his stores nntil the approach of even- 
ing, being w^ell aware of the superior brilliancy 
imparted to their tints by the slanting rays of the 
setting sun ; and when the young merchant has pur- 
chased knowledge by experience, he will observe that 



SRINAQUR, THE CAPITAL OF CASHMERE 61 

tlie sliawl is never exhibited bj one person only ; 
that the broker, apparently inattentive, is usnally sit- 
ting near, and that, nnder pretence of bringing the 
different beanties of the shawl nnder his more special 
notice, a constant and free masonic fire of squeezes 
and pinches, having reference to the price to be 
asked, and graduated from one to five hundred 
rupees, is secretly kept up between the venders, by 
means of their hands extended under the shawl. 
When the merchant has completed his purchases, the 
broker, who was before so eager to obtain him as a 
guest, pays him the compliment of seeing him safe to 
the outside of the city, where he takes leave of him 
at the last houses, leaving him to find his w^ay, as 
best he may, alone over the mountains. 

" Srinagur, the capital, has a population of about 
eighty thousand souls. The Cashmerian peasants dif- 
fer but little from the inhabitants of the city, but 
the latter are more civilized and perhaps better look- 
ing. There are Mussulmans and Hindoos, the former 
predominating in the proportion of three to one in 
the city, and nine to one in the villages. The com- 
plexion of the Mussulman Cashmerian is generally 
not so dark, certainly not darker, than that of the 
natives of the south of Europe, the Neapolitans for 
instance, to whom they may also be compared on 
account of the liveliness and humor of their disposi- 
tion ; but their features are large and aquiline, like 
those of the Afghans, and I do not know that I can 
better describe them than by calling them subdued 
Jewish ; while a Hindoo may often be distinguished 
by the fairness of his complexion. I was also told 



62 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

that this was attributable to their eating a less quan- 
tity of animal food than the Mussulmans. I have 
heard that the natives of the valley ascribe their own 
beauty to the great softness of the water. I have re- 
marked that the water softens a shawl better than 
any other ; and there is undoubtedly a peculiar soft- 
ness in the air of the valley. It is remarked that the 
horns of cattle, sheep, and goats never attain thei-e to 
any great size, and, in fact, are rather small than 
otherwise. Neither lias the tobacco of Cashmere the 
pungency of that grown elsewhere. 

" Many of the women are handsome enough to 
induce a man to exclaim, as did the Assyrian sol- 
diers, when they beheld the beauty of Judith — 
' Who would despise this people, that have among 
them such women ? ' Their dress is a red gown, 
with large loose sleeves, and red fillet on the fore- 
head, over which is thi'own a white mantilla. The 
hair is braided . in separate plaits, then gathered to- 
gether, and a long tassel of black cotton is suspended 
from it almost to the ankles. 

" In Cashmere there is no concealment of the fea- 
tures, except among the higher classes. I do not 
think that the beauty of the women has been over- 
rated. They have not that slim and graceful shape 
which is so common in Hindustan, but are more 
usually gifted with a style of figure which would 
entitle them to the appellation of fine or handsome 
women in European society. They have the com- 
plexion of brunettes, with more pink on the cheeks, 
while that of the Hindoo women has often too much 
of the pink and white in it. Whatever the other 



SRINAQUB, THE CAPITAL OF CASHMEBE 63 

features may be, they have usually a pair of large, 
almond-shaped hazel eyes, and a white and regular 
set of teeth. The inhabitants of the boats, male and 
female, are perhaps the handsomest people in the 
valley." 



CHAPTER YII. 

JOURNEY TO ISKARDO AND THE UPPER INDUS 

BEFORE leaving the Punjab for Cashmere, Mr. 
Yigne received information which led him to 
believe that he raio-ht succeed in reachinsj Iskardo 
on the upper Indus, the capital of Baltistan (some- 
times also called Little Thibet), which had never been 
visited by a European. Ahmed Shah, the Rajah of 
the country, had expressed a desire to see some 
Englishman at his court, no doubt in the hope of 
securinoj some influence which mio^ht be of service to 
liim in the then unsettled state of the country. 

Mr. Yigne had been but a short time in the vale 
of Cashmere, when he found that it would be neces- 
sary to carry out his plan during the brief summer 
of the higher ranges. The Sikh governor at first 
refused to allow him to proceed farther, without per- 
mission from Runjeet Sing, at Lahore; but this was 
easily obtained. The officials, nevertheless, endeav- 
ored to create obstacles of another kind. "The Ivazi 
(Judge) of Cashmere," says Mr. Yigne, " confessed 
afterward that they had tried to bribe and intimidate 
my servants, and I myself was present when the 
Sikh captain commanding my guard was terrifying 
them by solemnly assuring them there were Jews at 



JOURNEY TO ISKARDO 65 

Ladak, whose favorite food, among other horrors, 
was liumaii flesli. 

" But all the offers and assertions of the Sikhs 
were of no avail against the counter-statement of the 
faithful emissaries of Ahmed Shah (of Iskardo), who 
I have no doubt promised them both protection and 
emolument ; and when I told them the contents of 
llunjeet's letter, they only stipulated for double 
wages during the time they were absent from the 
valley — which of course I instantly agreed to give 
them. All necessary preparations were made without 
loss of time, and the next day I was rapidly floating 
down the broad and burnished expanse of the Jelum, 
and following its windings on my way to Bundurpore, 
on the Wuhir Lake, where commences the path over 
the mountains to Little Thibet. 

" The night was spent at the foot of the pass. 
When all was ready for a start in the morning, I 
was informed that a messenger from Ahmed Shah, 
of Iskardo, had arrived, and wished to speak to me. 
His name was ]^asim Khan : he was a singular-look- 
ing person, thin and pale-faced, dressed in a black 
velvet frock, with silver buttons, and wearing a black 
leathern belt profusely ornamented with little knobs 
of the same metal. He approached me bareheaded, 
with the look and manner of a captive brigand, his 
small, keen, dark eye glancing suspiciously on my 
Sikh guards ; then, after making a most respectful 
salaam, he stated that his master had sent him to 
welcome and attend upon me ; that he had also 
brought with him a good pony, who would carry me 
in safety to Iskardo ; and finally, after handing me a 



66 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

letter of invitation from Ahmed Shall, he drew back 
and remained stationary, with an aspect and in an at- 
titude that betokened tlie most profound submission. 

"When we had commenced the ascent, and his 
fears and suspicions were over, his tongue was rarely 
at rest, and I listened with avidity and delight to the 
recital of his own adventures, his stories of Great 
and Little Thibet, and the countries on the north 
of us, including Yarkand and its Chinese masters; 
how they were always at war with the people of 
Kokand ; how they had labored for months to cut 
through a glacier, in order to form a passage for 
their army ; how the general of the Kokandees had 
loaded several wagons with the pig-tails of the Chi- 
nese soldiers, slain in action ; and how, in return, his 
celestial majesty had sent back the same number 
of wagons laden with millet-seed, by way of intimat- 
ing the countless numbers of his troops — how a 
Chinese general, to prove his powers of ubiquity, 
would start off his whole army in carriages over 
night, to a distant post, the vehicles being sometimes 
drawn across the country by paper kites ; how the 
walls of one of their strongholds were of loadstone, 
and the advancing forces were aghast when their 
side-arms flew from their scabbards, and their match- 
locks struggled in their hands ! 

"It took half a day to reach the halting-station, 
a small open lawn surrounded by a pine forest. 
Here we slept on the ground without pitching tents, 
in order to be ready to ascend to the summit, and 
cross the snow before sunrise, while it was yet hard 
with the night's frost. The tableland in summer- 



JOURNEY TO ISKARDO C7 

time is covered witli a fine greensward, and at the 
distance of a mile and a half rises a small eminence 
on the left, toward Avhicli, on our approach, ^asim 
Khan suddenly started off in a gallop, calling on me 
to follow, and loudly exclaiming that he would show 
me a view w^ortli a lac of rupees. I quickly fol- 
lowed him, and the stupendous peak of Diarmul, 
more than forty miles distant in a straight line, but 
appearing to be much nearer, bui'st upon my sight, 
rising far above every other around it, and entirely 
cased in snow, excepting where its scarps were too 
precipitous for snow to remain upon them. It was 
partially encircled by a broad belt of cloud, and its 
finely-pointed summit, glistening in the full blaze of 
the morning sun, relieved by the clear blue sky be- 
yond it, presented, on account of its isolated situation, 
an appearance of extreme altitude, equalled by few 
of the Himalaya range, though their actual height be 
greater. 

" This peak is called Diarmul by the Thibetans, and 
!N^unga Furbut, or the naked mountain, by the Cash- 
merians. I should estimate its elevation at nearly 
nineteen thousand feet above the sea.^ The pass on 
which w^e stood has a height of 12,000 feet ; on the 
south we saw two- thirds of the vale of Cashmere, 
with the snowy range of the Panjal behind it. 

" The way now led aloft upon a tableland called 
Burzil, or the Birches, where the limestone of the 
valleys gives way to a granite formation. 

* Its actual height has since been ascertained, by measurement, 
to be 20,679 feet, thus ranking s^a!^7^ among the mountains of the 
world. 



68 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

" As we were approaching Biirzil we met a Little 
Thibetan, who had been sent on some errand bv Ah- 
med Shah, and from whom my servants learned that 
there were robbers in the vicinity, and that Ahmed 
Shah himself was near at hand, witli a large force, 
for the purpose of destroying them on the following 
day. Toward nightfall, while sitting by a fire near 
my tent-door, another Balti native showed himself 
for an instant, on the crest of the rocky eminence 
below which we were encamped, and then hastened 
away with the intelligence of my arrival. In about 
an hour afterward, the loud, distant, and discordant 
blasts of the Thibetan music were heard echoing along 
the glen : the sound grew louder and loudei", and we 
were all on the tiptoe of expectation. At length the 
band, which was the foremost of the procession, made 
its appearance above us, consisting of fifes, clarion- 
ets, and ^VQ or six huge brazen tiumpets, about six 
feet in length, shaped like the classic instruments 
which are usually put to the mouth of Fame. After 
these came a group of thirty or forty soldiers, the 
wildest-looking figures imaginable, wearing large, 
loosely-tied turbans, and armed with matchlocks, 
swords, and shields. . After them came one of Ahmed 
Shah's sons, preceded by a few small red horses, and 
suiTounded by more soldiers. Ahmed Ali Khan, for 
so the young prince was named, had been sent by liis 
father to welcome me and give me honorable escort. 
He was a young man of short and slender make, 
walking with a lame and somewhat awkward gait, in 
consequence of his having broken both liis legs by a 
fall, when he was a child. They were cured, by-the-by, 






NIGHT ON THE DESERT. 



JOURNEY TO ISKARDO 69 

bj liis swallowing pills of rock asphaltiiin, and living 
npon milk at the same time. His handsome features 
and fine expanse of forehead derived a somewhat 
effeminate expression from his back hair (the front 
of the head was shaved) being gathered into two 
large massive curls, hanging down one behind each 
ear. All the young men of Little Thibet follow this 
fashion, and leave the mustaches, but shave the beard 
until it begins to grow strongly. The long curls are 
then doffed or neglected, and the beard is allowed to 
luxuriate. 

'• After making the usual inquiries after my health, 
and answering several questions on different subjects, 
which I put to him by means of my interpreter, the 
young Khan assured me that the story about the 
robbers was perfectly true — tliat seventy or eighty of 
them had come through the mountains from the dis- 
trict of Ivholi-Palus, on the Indus, about eight or ten 
days' march below Iskardo ; that they had been pil- 
laging a village in his father's territories, and were 
driving away with them the inhabitants and their 
cattle also ; and that his father had come in person, 
with a strong force, for the purpose of cutting them 
off at the head of a defile, through which they were 
expected to debouch. 

" Accordingly^ at an early hour the next morning, 
we all moved forward toward the place of the am- 
buscade. After a few miles we came in sight of the 
Rajah's tent, on the opposite side of the mouth of 
the defile through which the marauders were ex- 
pected to arrive, and near it were several hundred 
men, visible to us, but concealed from their approach- 



70 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

ing victims by a small eminence. The youug Khan 
ordered a halt within one mile and a half of his 
father's tent, and we sat down for half an hour qni- 
etly awaiting the preconcerted signal. 

" From the spot where we remained 1 conld distin- 
guish several parties lying in ambnsli in diiferent 
parts of the mountains, but all was as silent as the 
place was desolate, although so many human beings 
were in sight. Suddenly, and I shall never forget the 
excitement of a scene so new and so savage, the band 
advanced rapidly into the open part of the defile, 
striking up one of its wildest and loudest strains, 
and the mountains echoed again with the clangor of 
their huge trumpets, and the laugh-like cheers of the 
Baltis, as every man left his place of concealment 
and sprang forward upon the astonished maraudei's. 
Our party were instantly mounted, and we pushed 
forward to the top of the hill in advance of us ; but 
the work had been speedily finished, and was nearly 
over when w^e arrived. The bodies of ^\e or six men 
who had attempted to escape toward us were Ij'ing 
on our right. They had been intercepted and killed, 
and stripped in an instant. At a short distance lay a 
wounded wretch, who had raised himself on his hand, 
and by his side was an old Thibetan soldier, coolly 
loading his matchlock, from which he gave him the 
coujp-de-grdce. Around another was a circle of the 
victors, from which one more ferocious than the rest 
would now and then step forward to inflict a fresh 
wound with his sword. Others were busied in strip- 
ping the slain, and securing part of the spoil to them- 
selves. Among the latter were my brave Cashmer- 



JOURNEY TO ISKARDO 71 

ian coolies, wlio, watcliing their opportunity, aban- 
doned their loads in the melee, and contrived to seize 
upon several sheep which they killed and buried, on 
the same principle that a dog buries a bone, to be dug 
up on their return. 

" While I was surveying the extraordinary scene 
around me, my attention was attracted by a large 
crowd, and I was told that the Rajah was approach- 
ing. He and all around him dismounted as he drew 
near to me, and I, of course, followed the example. 
Of two who were taller than the rest, I did not im- 
mediately know which was Ahmed Shah, but I after- 
ward found that the second was his brother, Gholam 
Shah. Ahmed Shah approached me bareheaded, 
and when near he frequently stopped and salaamed 
by bowing low, and touching the ground with the 
back of his hand, and then carrying it to his fore- 
head. I advanced quickly, took his hand, and shook 
it a Vanglaise^ bidding my intei'preter inform him 
that it was the English custom to do so, with which 
piece of information he seemed much pleased. We 
then all sat down upon tent-rugs which had been 
brought for the occasion, and after mutual inquiries 
after each other's health, I congratulated him on the 
success of the expedition. He replied that these very 
marauders had pillaged part of his country two or 
three times before, and that he had determined to 
come in person and destro}^ them ; that he had all 
his life prayed that he might set eyes upon a Frank 
before he died, and that now his wisli was granted. 

" I must have appeared an odd figure to him, being 
dressed in a white duck shooting-jacket and a broad- 



72 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

brimmed white cotton liat. I had come, he remarked, 
from a long distance to visit him, and had arrived at 
a very fortunate hour ; he said that he would do all 
he could to make me welcome ; and added, that what 
with my arrival and his having killed the thieves, he 
was really so happy that he knew not what to do. 
During this conversation the soldiers came in from 
diffei-ent quarters, showing their wounds, some of 
them being very severe ones, and displaying the 
spoils, consisting of swords which the robbers had 
scarcely time to draw, and old matchlocks for which 
they had not been allowed the opportunity of strik- 
ing a light. 

" My friend, Nasim Khan, who had joined the 
ambuscades, came up without his cap, which he said 
he had lost in the conflict. Out of the whole num- 
ber of the marauders three or four only had con- 
trived to make their escape ; the rest were killed, or 
so severely wounded as to be supposed dead. About 
one hundred men, w^omen, and children, and a very 
large flock of sheep, were rescued from their hands, 
and some of them came up to thank the Rajah for 
what he had done for them. Meanw^hile an unfor- 
tunate wretch, who had been shamming dead, or who 
had recovered a little fiom the faintness caused by 
his wound, was suddenly discovered in the distance, 
sitting upright on the mountain-side. Some of the 
bystanders instantly volunteered to go and despatch 
him. I looked at the Rajah, and I suppose he un- 
derstood as I wished, that I meant to ask for mercy, 
for he ordered them to fetch him, but to spare his 
life. lie was brought in afterward, a stout-looking 



JOURNEY TO ISKABDO 73 

fellow, with a dark swartlij skin (for he was nearly 
stripped), and a shaven head. He had a severe gash 
on the neck and another on the arm. I suppose they 
had told him tliat I had interceded for him, as he 
caught my eye instantly, and his wounds did not pre- 
vent him from raising his hands to his mouth, and 
making a sign for water — which was also given to 
him immediately at my request, and he was after- 
ward dismissed with his liberty, but died, so I was 
informed, while on his way to report the fate of his 
comrades. 

"• Ahmed Shah said he wished to remain encamped 
where he was, for the night; but added that he 
would move elsewhere if I disliked the smell of the 
wild leeks, which were very numerous. I made no 
objection, and my tent was pitched at a little distance 
from his own, and I retired to rest, feeling thankful 
for the protection I had received from a danger 
which, according to all calculation of time and cir- 
cumstances, must, had I been alone with my party, 
have certainly crossed my path. The next morning 
I observed the Rajah and several others standing 
round what, upon approaching, I found to be a heap 
of human heads, which had been collected and 
brought to him for inspection. 

" We soon afterward started for Iskardo, and im- 
mediately commenced the ascent to the plains of 
Deotsuh. 

" We wound in long array across the elevated 
plain. I was eager to arrive at Iskardo, and was al- 
ways for moving forward, but the Rajah, whose yes- 
terday's victory was a great feat, seemed determined 



7-1 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

to take it more coolly, and was perpetually calling for 
a fresh pipe, and stopping to enjoy it — I, of course, 
being obliged, out of respect, to disnionnt and sit 
down with him. At length, after a march of sixteen 
miles, we arrived at our camp-groiind, near a large 
but fordable stream. As night drew near, the air 
became extremely cold, and my Hindoo servants were 
in a state of despair. A quantity of dead dwarf juni- 
per roots was collected by the Thibetans, and a lai-ge 
and cheery fire was soon kindled, which added much 
to their comfort. I contented myself with partaking 
of their supper, and while my bed was preparing, 
was keeping myself warm by walking to and fro 
with my hands in my pockets, having previously, as I 
thought, taken leave of the Rajah for the night, 
when he suddenly joined me and exclaimed, ' I'll 
walk with you.' Then sticking his hands into his 
sash, he forthwith began stalking up and down by 
m}^ side, at a pace that his dignity had not often 
permitted before. 

" We proceeded on our march over the plain, and 
about mid-day Mohammed Ali Khan, a boy about 
twelve years old, the heir presumptive to the throne 
of Little Thibet, arrived from Iskardo. Towai'd 
sunset we were at the foot of a steep ridge, and pi-e- 
pared for a further ascent of about four hundred feet. 

" The cortege commenced the ascent of the zigzag ; 
the coolies toiled up the path, and were obliged to 
halt and take breath at every twenty paces ; tlien 
they advanced again, encouraging each other by 
loudly cheering, in a tone that might liave been 
taken for the wild and discordant laughter of ma- 



JOURNEY TO ISKARDO 75 

niacs. I pressed forward with eagerness in advance 
of Aluned Shall, riding as far as I could ; but find- 
ing I should attain the summit faster on foot, I left 
mj horse with a groom, and soon stood at the upper 
edge of a glacis of snow, and thence — through a long 
sloping vista formed of barren peaks, of savage 
shapes and various colors, in which the milkj white- 
ness of the gypsum rock was contrasted with the 
deeply red tint of those that contained iron — I, the 
first European who had ever beheld them, gazed 
downward from a height of six or seven thousand 
feet upon the sandy plains and green orchards of the 
valley of the Indus at Iskardo, with a sensation of 
mingled pride and pleasure, of which no one but a 
traveller can form a just conception. The rock, of 
the same name, with the Rajah's stronghold at the 
east end of it, was a very conspicuous object. The 
stream from the valley of Shighur, which joins the 
Indus at its foot, was visible from the spot where I 
stood, while to the north, and wherever the eye 
could rove, arose, with surpassing grandeur, a vast 
assemblage of the enormous summits that compose 
the Thibetan Himalaya. 

" We did not reach the rock of Iskardo until the 
afternoon of the next day, and upon my arrival I 
found that a good house at its foot, in which some of 
the Rajah's family usually resided, had been emptied 
for my reception. I followed the Rajah up the steps 
to the upper room, where one of his attendants im- 
mediately presented me with a plate of small, thin, 
fancifully stamped pieces of gold, made from the 
gold-dust collected on the banks of the Indus, and 



76 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

another plateful of similar silver pieces, which 1 
showered down from the balcony upon the crowd be- 
low. After these were exhausted, we threw down 
several bits of clotli for turbans, etc., and all laughed 
heartily at the furious scrambling and vociferations 
which took place even before the articles fell. 

" The Indus was visible from my window, and I 
then turned to enjoy the view of it for the first time. 
It approached through a sandy plain, from the eastern 
end of the valley, and here, nine miles from the en- 
trance, it washed the end of the rock within musket- 
shot of me, in a noble stream of more than one hun- 
dred and fifty yards in width. The Rock is about 
two miles in length, and the peak over the east end 
rises some eight liundred feet above the river. The 
wdiole of this superb natural fortress, situated in the 
middle of the valley of Iskardo, which is nineteen 
miles long and seven wide, rises with mural sides 
from a buttress of sand, except at the western end, 
where it slopes deeply to the plain. 

" The valley of the Indus, at Iskardo, is about seven 
thousand three hundred feet above the level of the 
sea. Enormous mountains, rising eight thousand feet 
or more above it, surround it on every side, bare, 
rugged, and apparently inaccessible, with long, as- 
cending defiles between them. The surface of the 
valley, but for the verdure supplied by partial irri- 
gation, would be almost a sandy plain ; but water 
may be found anywhere, I was informed, at the 
depth of ten yards. Almost all the owners of land 
are sepoys, who are bound by their tenure to per- 
form any sort of service to which they may be called. 



JOURNEY TO I8KARD0 77 

The crops are of wheat, barley, turnips, a little rice, 
millet, buckwheat, and cockscombs. The melons of 
Iskardo are plentiful, small and green, but of deli- 
cious flavor. The grapes are pretty good, apples 
excellent, pears indifferent ; peaches and apricots are 
generally small. Good raisins are also made in the 
valley. 

" I tasted a curious preparation called sgitrma, and 
where there was so little variety for the palate I did 
not despise it as a sweatmeat. It is made by putting 
two pounds of ripe wheat into a hair bag, which is 
then to be laid in a running stream for live or six 
days, or until the sprout is about an inch in length. 
Care is to be taken that the grains do not adhere, and 
for that purpose it should be gently stirred once a 
day. The grains are then dried and broken by pound- 
ing, and four pints of water are added to one of the 
mashed grain. It should remain all day in the water, 
which is to be strained off in the evening. The liquor 
is then boiled in a stone saucepan, which is first greased 
inside with butter : when boiling, a cupful of almond 
or apricot oil to about three quarts of the liquor, is 
to be poured in, and the whole stirred until it as- 
sumes the consistency of paste. I was surprised at 
the taste imparted by the sweet-wort, and could 
hardly believe that there was no sugar in the compo- 
sition. 

" The Eajali told me that the valley of Shighur is 
well worth visiting, and volunteered to accompany me, 
which proposal of course I did not refuse. We were 
ferried over the Indus, and afterward marched across 
the sandy plain, parallel to the river, then turned to 



78 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

the left and wound among the bare and rocky hills 
which separate the valley of Shighnr from that of Is- 
kardo. The former valley lies nearly at right angles 
with the latter ; its length, by actual survey, is 
twenty -four miles, its greatest breadth between four 
and five. The Rajah and myself occupied three 
days in marching to the end of it. 

" The complexions of the Little Thibetans are usu- 
ally sallow, and their physiognomy shows an admixt- 
ure of the Mongolian or Tartar, and the more noble 
features of the Indian or Persian races, which have 
originally met from the north and the south upon the 
banks of the Indus. But I noticed that their aspect 
was usually thin and care-worn, the result, no doubt, 
of the hard life and scanty fair of the mountaineer, 
the latter consisting chiefly of bread made from some 
of the grains already mentioned, and apricots dried in 
the sun, of which, in the autumn, bushels may be seen 
upon every other roof. I do not think them long- 
lived, and Ahmed Shah seemed to think that eighty 
was an extraordinary age. They are certainly an in- 
teresting people. 

" The glory of the valley up which we travelled is 
the magnificent glacier at the end of it. Its lower 
extremity is a short distance from the village of Arin- 
do, and the natives say that it is slowly but per- 
ceptibly advancing. It occupies the entire valley as 
far as the eye can reach ; and a place that looks more 
like the extremity of the world does not exist. Yast 
mountains, alike bare, precipitous, and rugged, appear 
to form a channel for it, and in the extreme distance 
their sides are colored with the red and white tints of 



JOURNEY TO I8KARD0 79 

iron and gypsum. The width of the lofty wall of 
ice, in which it terminates toward Arindo, is about 
a quarter of a mile ; its height is nearly a hundred 
feet. I have never seen any spectacle of the same 
nature so truly grand as the debouchure of the waters 
from beneath this glacier. The ice is clear and green 
as an emerald, the archway lofty, gloomy, and Aver- 
n US-like. The stream that emerges from it is no in- 
cipient brook, but a large and ready-formed river, 
whose color is that of the soil which it has collected 
in its course, whose violence and velocity betoken a 
very long descent, and whose force is best explained by 
saying that it rolls along with it enormous masses of 
ice, which are whirled against the rocks in its bed 
with a concussion producing a sound resembling that 
of a distant cannon. * 

" ]^ot far from the foot of the glacier is the open- 
ing of a defile, with a guard and watch-tower ; and 
on the summit of the defile is another glacier, over 
which, with two or three days' scrambling, and being 
fastened together by ropes, there is a way to the val- 
ley of Nagyr, once tributary to Ahmed Shah, but 
now independent, and containing upward of twenty 
castles. I was meditating an excursion over the 
Muzdagh (or Belor Dagh) to the district of Hunzeh, 
in order to pass thence to Pamir, and perhaps to 
Khokand ; but Ahmed Shaw told me it was impos- 
sible, as he could not depend on the friendship of the 
people of Hunzeh." 



CHAPTER YIIL 

JOURNEY TO LADAK. 

MR. YIGl^E visited Iskardo twice, and during 
one of the visits (but which lie does not state, 
nor in what year) he succeeded in ascending the 
Indus to Leh, the capital of Ladak, or Little Thibet. 
His narrative must be detached fi'om the innumer- 
able digressions in which he indulges, and set to- 
gether in order, as in the foregoing chapters. The 
first day's march, after leaving Iskardo, was to the 
eastern end of the valley, which the Indus enters by 
a narrow and difficult pass. 

*'The next morning," he says, " we arrived at the 
place where the two branches of the Indus, one from 
Ladak, and the other, the Shayok, from Nubra and 
Karakoram, nnite to form the main stream. 

" I must first ascend the latter river, toward Kho- 
palu. 

" Khopalu (the place of the rock) is reached on the 
third day. The open district so named is a long 
sloping bank, two or three miles in extent, on the 
left side of the river, and exhibiting a green and 
shady confusion of stone walls, cottages, and fruit- 
trees. The most conspicuous object is the castle, 
built on the summit of a nearly isolated rock, which 
rises more than a thousand feet above the Indus. 



JOURNEY TO LADAK 81 

The view from its windows is very grand, and they 
overliang a height which it made me almost giddy to 
look down upon. Ahmed Shah took it from a re- 
fractory rajah by cutting off tlie supply of water. 

"At Kliopalu I was visited by a native physician, 
who brought with him a book called the manchuh^ 
composed of loose oblong leaves tied up between two 
boards, and written in Tliibetan characters. He said 
he did not know its age, but informed me that it 
was written in Lassa, the capital of Great Thibet, 
and that it was the best book on medicine to be 
found between Lassa and Ladak; which was not, 
however, saying much for " it. It was divided into 
four parts : 1, a treatise on the pulse and veins ; 
2, on plants ; 3 and 4, on judging of disease by the 
inspection of the tongue, eyes, etc., of the patient. 
He appeared unwilling to part with it, saying that it 
was his bread, and I did not press him to do so. 
For fever he gave camphor, white sandal-wood, ele- 
phant's liver, and saffron ; for ague, cinnamon, pep- 
per, pomegranate, and quince seeds. 

" We passed the castle of Chorbut, which is situ- 
ated so as to command the entrance of the defile and 
pass of Hanu. Beyond the turn of the river, above 
a village called Pranuk, the path in its bed was not 
practicable in consequence of there being too much 
water. 

" The ascent to the summit of the Hanu pass was 
as dreary and desolate as possible, but not so difficult 
as many others. The descent was more troublesome, 
as the snow was softened, and we were constantly 
sinking in it up to the middle. 



82 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 



a 



We soon found ourselves among tlie villages of 
tlie Bhuts, or genuine Thibetans. Instead of the 
shorn head, the large, loosely tied turban and drab- 
colored costumes of the Mohammedans of Baltistan, I 
now saw for the first time the black felt cap, with a 
rounded top that flapped down to the wearer's cheek ; 
the hair gathered and twisted into a regular pig-tail, 
and a long, dark, monk-like robe, reaching nearly to 
the heels. They smoked a tobacco-pipe of iron, pre- 
cisely resembling the common clay pipe of England. 
The women, hideously dirty and not handsome, wear 
their hair also in a tail, but over it is fastened a 
leathern strap, two inches and a half in width, which 
descends from the top of the head to the heels, and 
on this are fastened large lumps of malachite, brought 
from the Chinese frontier. 

" The whole party now sat down to rest themselves 
and hold a consultation, as we were approaching the 
frontiers of Ladak, which was in possession of the 
Sikhs. A. few were gathered around the young 
Khan ; the others sought repose and shade in differ- 
ent parts of the rock, and their wild and brigand-like 
figures, dispersed in groups, and reclining in various 
attitudes upon the gray stone, were quite in accord- 
ance with the savage and chaotic scenery around us, 
and fitting subjects for the pencil of Salvator Rosa. 

" Near this place I came upon the first of those 
singular Buddhist buildings called Munis. They are 
of various shapes, but those in pai'ticular wdiich I 
now saw had at first the appearance of a long, low 
shed, or outhouse, about twenty yards in lengtli, five 
feet high, and its width may have been about twelve 



JOURNEY TO LADAK 83 

or fourteen. Upon closer inspection it seemed to 
be a solid mass of earth and large pebbles ; the roof, 
a little raised in the centre, was entirely covered, and, 
as it were, tiled, with flat stones of different dimen- 
sions, more or less than a foot in length, on every 
one of which was engraved the Buddhist invocation, 
Om^ Mani jpadma^ Om.^ 

" At Skerwuchnn I found the first large village, 
built after the fashion of Great Thibet. On the top 
of the hill where it first came in sight were some 
more Munis, of a different shape. The appearance 
of the village was alike singular and pretty, and re- 
minded me of those formed with a child's toy. In- 
stead of the mud and stone cottages of Little Thibet, 
I found small, square, and white buildings, neatly 
finished off with projecting eaves of wood. They 
contained, apparently, but one room and one window 
each, the framework painted red. Each of these, 
looking as if it formed part of one large house, was 
raised one above the other on the side of the amphi- 
theatre, with apricots, mulberries, and other fruit- 
trees scattered among them. The Lamas and Ge- 
lums, or priests and priestesses, were seated at the 
windows, and on the flat roofs, which they left in 
order to have a nearer gaze at us, their dark-red 
robes and monastic appearance adding considerably 
to the effect of the scene. They held in one hand 
the skuru^ or praying cylinder, which they were in- 

* Mani padma is one of the appellations of Buddlia, and signi- 
fies the Mani, or holy person, who has the padma, or lotus, for 
his jewel. According to Professor Wilson, the best interpretation 
of the word Om is : "Let us meditate on the supreme splendor 
of that divine sun who may illuminate our understanding ! " 



84 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

cessantly twirling. The skuru is of wood, four or 
five inches long, and shaped like a drum ; a spindle 
of iron is passed through it, on which, in the interior 
of the cylinder, are wound written prayers and inter- 
jections. Tlie lower end of the spindle forms a han- 
dle by which it is twirled, and on the upper point is 
fastened a bit of string, with a ball at the end of it. 
This flies round with great rapidity, and assists in 
making the whirring noise which comes from the 
cylinder when it is turned, and which would appear 
to be considered as an incessant utterance of the 
prayers contained within it. 

" Upon our approach the principal priests of the 
place came to salute us. They greeted Achmet Ali 
Khan as if he were come to deliver them from the 
yoke of the Sikhs, and the chief of them presented 
me with a small piece of white cloth, made of a kind 
of grass. Three-quarters of a mile before our ari-ival 
at another village, called Kulutzi, we found a wooden 
bridge thrown over the Indus, where it rushes through 
a rocky channel, only twenty-five yards in width. 

" Gulab Sing, who, from the first commencement 
of my travels in the Alpine Punjab, had looked upon 
me with a suspicious eye, was exceedingly unwilling 
that I should visit Leh, because, for one reason, he 
knew that Runjeet Sing would be sure to ask me 
all about it, and the demand upon him for revenue 
might be thereby increased. He altogether con- 
cealed all intelligence of his conquest from Runjeet, 
in the first instance. It also became necessary, ap- 
parently, that his reception of me in Ladak should be 
such as would convince his newly conquered subjects 



JOURNEY TO LADAK 85 

that he had little respect for the name of an English- 
man. 

" Accordingl}^, as my Balti escort and myself were 
proceeding quietly on onr march, a Sikh, accompanied 
by five men, with lighted matchlocks, suddenly pre- 
sented himself, toid me that I could go no farther, 
and coolly laid his hand on my bridle, but quickly 
withdrew it at my bidding. The Baltis gathered 
around me and would have overpow^ered the Sikhs in 
a moment, had I intimated a wish that they should 
do so ; but it was not difficult to see that I had no 
right to persist in bringing a body of armed men, 
even in the guise of an escort, upon Gulab Sing's 
territories, without his permission. Annoying as it 
was, after having come thus far, I was obliged to 
take Aclimet AH aside and represent to him the im- 
possibility of his proceeding, against the positive 
refusal of the Sikhs, and that if I allowed them to 
force their way, it would afford Gulab Sing a just 
pretext for a counter-invasion of Iskardo. In the 
meantime the Sikhs promised to take care of me, 
and the affair ended by our all sitting down upon the 
ground and talking, until my tent was pitched and 
my dinner was prepared. I took leave of Achmet 
Ali and my Balti friends the next morning, and then 
proceeded toward Leh in company with my new ac- 
quaintances. 

" Before arriving at Ladak the country becomes 
more open, and the path descends to the green 
margin of the river, on which goats, sheep, and 
cattle were feeding. The water of the Indus was 
clear, and the stream about forty yards wide. 



86 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

"Pituk is a large and very picturesque village, 
built on the side of a steep hill ; its nnmerons rows 
of Mnnis, and the red pi-iests and priestesses moving 
among them, gave it a most singular and lively ap- 
pearance. It stands at the corner of a large sandy 
plain, and immediately after passing it I found my- 
self within sight of the town of Leh (Ladak is prop- 
erly the name of the country), and at the same time 
could discern for a great distance the course of the 
Indus, as it meandered toward me, through its very 
grand and open valley, from the northeast, and the 
enormous mountains in the direction of the Spiti 
valley, some of which (but these were not in sight) 
are supposed, by those who have seen them from the 
passes behind Simla, to attain an elevation of upward 
of thirty thousand feet, or double the height of Mont 
Blanc. Several villages were scattered along the 
banks of the river, and the whole scene was exceed- 
ingly enlivening. 

" Leh stands on the north bank, on the eastern 
side of the upper extremity of a plain, tliree jniles in 
length, covered wdth sand and loose stones, and slop- 
ing gently down to the bank of the Indus. A small 
stream, which fertilizes a nook in the mountains be- 
hind the tow^n, finds its way through the plain, whei-e 
it is so full as to be neither expended in irrigation 
nor lost in sand. On the opposite side of the river is 
a very long sloping plain, of still larger dimensions, 
generally barren ; but the upper part of it, called 
Tok, w^as green and well sprinkled with white vil- 
lages. Behind it arose a chain of very high moun- 
tains. Another chain of mountains, more than six- 



JOURNEY TO LADAK 87 

teen thousand feet in lieigbt, rise bej^ond Leh, and 
divide the valley of the Shayok from that of the 
Indus, the nearest distance between them being about 
tv^enty miles in a direct line. 

" The toM^n of Leh is about eleven thousand five 
hundred feet above the sea ; it is situated at the foot 
of a spur from the lofty ridge, and contains four or 
^YQ hundred houses, v^ith flat roofs and neatly fin- 
ished windows. 

" The commencement of the high plains of Cen- 
tral Asia is but a few days' march from Leh. The 
only inhabitants are wandering shepherds, who range 
with their flocks and their families over an almost 
boundless extent. Those of Pamir, or JSam-i-Dunia 
(the Roof of the World), to the westward, are 16,000 
feet high. The peaks that rise above them are gen- 
erally covered with snow, and the cold is so intense 
tliat not only the goats but other animals, such as the 
yak, the ibex, and the dog, as I have already re- 
marked, are provided by nature with a covering of 
jposhm^ or shawl wool, next the skin. 

" When I arrived at Leh I soon found that it was 
the intention of Gulab Sing's agents to prevent me 
from proceeding farther. Nobody but my own ser- 
vants were allowed to approach me. An old Pathan 
who came to pay his respects was ordered to quit my 
tent, and was, I believe, actually beaten for what he 
had done ; and what was worse, two Lamas, who 
came directly to call upon me, and to whom I began 
to put questions concerning their religion, were per- 
emptorily ordered to leave.' I was also prevented 
from purchasing provisions, or making })reparations, 



88 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

necessary for the prosecution of my journej^ Even 
if I walked into the town the bazaars were cleared 
and the people hid themselves, teri'ified at the ap- 
proacli of the ruffians who, bv tlius following me, 
were virtually interfering with my projects and ren- 
dering me powerless. 

" I several times saw the temporary Rajah of Leli, 
a mhiion of Gulab Sing, but the Sikhs would never 
allow him to stop and speak with me. One day I 
met him suddenlj' on horseback, and was struck with 
the appearance of the principal Lama of Ladak, who 
was in the cavalcade ; his red dress and broad- 
brimmed hat make me fancy for an instant that I 
beheld a cardinal. I turned my horse to ride with 
the Rajah, but the Sikh officer, Juan Sing, instantly 
came up and motioned him to proceed. 

" I, at last determined to see him, so one morning 
suddenly ordered my horse and galloped off to the 
Rajah's residence, attended by my secretary and a 
groom. The attendants endeavored to prevent my 
going up -stairs, but used no force. I ascended toward 
the Rajah's audience-room, having first frightened 
two Sikhs down-stairs, by half-drawing my sword 
upon them. Then, attended by my faithful Thibetan 
secretary, I walked without ceremony into the Ra- 
jah's chamber. He was seated alone, on a carpet at 
the farther end of it, near the window. His dress 
differed but little, except that it was more orna- 
mented, from the usual dress of the Thibetans, and a 
canopy of rich Chinese figured silk was suspended 
over his head. His attendants and others in the 
apartment stood around at a respectful distance, and 



JOURNEY TO LADAK 89 

wished me to do the same, but it was no time to be 
ceremonious. I walked up to the Rajah, made my 
salaam, and then sat down close by him, and warmly 
demanded assistance in the name of the Maharajah, 
E-nnjeet Sing, whose guest, and under whose protec- 
tion, I considered myself. 

" Juan Sing, hearing that I had gone to see the 
Rajah, soon afterward made his appearance, breath- 
less with haste ; and the Rajah, who was decidedly 
alarmed, told me at last that he was willing to give 
me the assistance I wanted, but that he was pre- 
vented by the fear of Gulab Sing. And having got 
this answer I quitted the room. I afterward found 
that there did not seem to be any longer an objection 
to my visiting Nubra and the Shayok valley, pro- 
vided I did not go farther, and I availed myself of 
the opportunity of employing the remainder of my 
time so profitably. 

"The way by which I travelled first took an east- 
ernly direction, over the sands, to the village of Ayu, 
and then turned to the north, ascending by a long, 
rocky, and very fatiguing zigzag to the summit of 
the pass. The thermometer gave me an elevation of 
nearly sixteen thousand feet, the formation being a 
dark-colored trap. I there suddenly came in view of 
the mountain masses that arose on the other side of 
the Shayok, and the whole horizon was serrated by 
snowy peaks in every direction. Among those to the 
north the range of the Musdagh arose in conspicuous 
and most majestic grandeur. 

"A long and cheerless descent brought us to the 

village of Jugur, our resting-place for the night. 
7 



90 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

The next inorning we descended npon Morknm, on 
the banks of tlie river. Above the village the valley 
assumes the appeai-ance of a defile, and two days' 
inarch np its side brings the traveller to the village of 
Shaj'ok, from which the river takes its name. Be- 
yond this there is not, I believe, any fixed human 
habitation for the remainder of the w^a}^ to Yarkand, 
the whole distance to which from Ladak occupies a 
little more than a month. 

" The road to Yarkand ascends the bed of the 
river, which is constantly crossed and recrossed by 
wading ; and the mountains or pass of Karakoram 
are in this manner reached about the ninth or tenth 
day from Ladak. The aspect of the lateral vallej^ of 
!Nubra, which enters that of Shaj^ok on the noitli, is 
altogether very pretty and enlivening, and I was sur- 
prised at the number and appearance of the houses 
scattered on different parts of it. A castle stands on 
a rocky eminence of about one hundred and fifty feet 
high, w^itli a village at its foot. The villages are 
numerous and picturesquely built, after the Ladak 
fashion, and there is no lack of apricot or mulberry 
trees around them. 

" I returned fi'om Nubra to Leh by another pass, 
to the south of that by which I went thither. It was 
of about the same height, but more covered with snow. 

"I soon afterward set out on my return to Is- 
kardo, where old Ahmed Shah received me with the 
same kind hospitality that he had ever shown, but 
could not repress a smile, in which I joined him, 
at my having run up and down so many miles of the 
Lidus to so little purpose. 



JOURNEY TO LADAK 91 

" On mj way back to the Punjab, Giilab Sing took 
occasion to send and inform nie that, if I wished, he 
would order Juan Sing's nose to be cut off and for- 
warded to me by way of punishing liim for his inso- 
lence. He afterward sent one of his principal secre- 
taries with a large bag of rupees, and a valuable 
dress, as an earnest of his wish that I would come to 
be his guest at Jamu, or would give him an inter- 
view on the road. I refused, however ; and when I 
got to Lahore I made a regular complaint to Knn- 
jeet Sing, at an interview which he gave me in his 
private audience- room." 

Mr. Yiojne made another visit to Iskardo durino^ 
his stay in India, and endeavored, but without suc- 
cess, to reach the little Alpine state of Gilgit, lying 
to the northwest, between the Indus and the source 
of the Oxus. A second attempt to ascend the 
Shayok branch of the Indus to its source in the lofty 
Karakoram range was also unsuccessful. Ilis ex- 
ploitations, however, established a broad base of 
knowledge of the Upper Indus and the Thibetan 
Himalayas, from which all expeditions toward Cen- 
tral Asia have since been undertaken. He returned 
to England in 1839, after an absence of seven years. 



CHAPTER IX. 

MR. SHAW'S PREPARATIONS TO EXPLORE CENTRAL 

ASIA 

FOR several j^ears after the murder of Adolf 
Sclilagintweit became known there was no 
further attempt made to follow in his footsteps. 
Little by little, however, the sum of information 
concerning the region was increased by intercourse 
with those of its natives who visited Ladak, bj the 
Hindoos sent thither by the English surveying offi- 
cers, and by bi'ief excursions along and over the 
frontiers of the dangerous territory. In 1858 a Rus- 
sian officer, Captain Yalikhanoff, who was the son 
of a Kirghiz chief, disguised himself as a wandei'ing 
trader of the tribe, succeeded in crossing the range 
of the Thian-Shan, and penetrated to Ivashgar, 
w^hen he was compelled to return. On the southern, 
or Thibetan side, Mr. Johnson, an officer of the Eng- 
lish survey, crossed the range of the Kuen-Llin, and 
safely reached the city of Klioten, where he was 
received in a very friendly manner by the native 
chief. 

In the meantime important political changes had 
taken place. The Tartar chief Walle Khan, by 
whose order Schlagintweit was executed, did not 
succeed in gaining possession of the cities of Yar- 



PREPARATIONS TO EXPLORE CENTRAL ASIA 93 



kand and Kasligar, which were still lield by their 
Chinese garrisons, but his invasion had the effect of 
stirring up all the elements of revolntion among a 
people so mixed in blood. In the spring of 1863 
the Toonganees, who are said to have sprung from 
the intermarriasie of 



"» 




Tartars and Chinese, 
using the language 
of the latter while 
they are Mussulmen 
in religion, rose 
against the Chinese 
officers in Yarkand 
and Khoten, and, 
after a severe strug- 
gle, gained posses- 
sion of both places. 
In Kashgar the Chi- 
nese, anticipating a 
similar revolt, invit- 
ed the Toonganees 
to a feast and then 
massacred them all 
in cold blood. 

Through these 
events the whole country was aroused. Immediately 
the Kirojhiz Tartars descended from all the neighbor- 
ing mountain regions, drawn together by the desire of 
plunder, and attacked Kashgar. The Chinese and 
their Turcoman partisans defended the city until they 
were reduced to the greatest straits. " Fii'st tliey ate 
their horses, then the dogs and cats, then their leather 



Eastern Camel. 



94 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

boots and straps, the saddles of their horses, and the 
strings of tlieir bows. At last they would collect to- 
gether in parties of ^yq or six, w^io would go prowl- 
ing about with ravenous eyes until they saw some one 
alone, some unfortunate comrade who still retained 
the flesh on his bones. They would drag him aside 
and kill him, afterward dividing the flesh between 
them, and each carrying off a piece hidden under his 
robe." Thirty or forty men died of hunger every 
day. At last, when no defenders were left on the. 
walls or at the gateways, the Kirghiz made good their 
entrance. 

Their victory was marked by indescribable bar- 
barities. The whole city was given up to plunder, 
and numbers of men, women, and children were mur- 
dered. In the midst of these horrors a new force 
appeared upon the scene. The news that Walle 
Ivhan had subjugated all the open country had 
crossed the western mountains ; and a member of the 
roval Tartar familv wdiich reio^ned in Central Asia 
more than a hundred 3'ears ago, Bozoorg Khan, ac- 
companied by Mohammad Yakoob, an enei'getic 
general, a native of the Khanate of Khokand, gath- 
ered together eighty followers and set out to recon- 
quer his lost inheritance. The people of Kashgar wel- 
comed him with professions of allegiance, and his 
little band of adventurers soon became so strong that 
they routed the plundering Kirghiz, seized and exe- 
cuted many of the chiefs, and established themselves 
in the city. This took place in January, 1864. 

The Chinese still held the strong fortress of Yang- 
liissar, situated about five miles to the south of 



PREPARATIONS TO EXPLORE CENTRAL ASIA 95 

Kasligai'. Bozoorg Khan, reinforced by five hun- 
dred men from Kliokand, commenced a siege, which 
lasted fourteen montlis before the supplies of the 
garrison were exhausted. From the accounts given 
by the people, he was an indolent man, whose only 
interest was in the ceremonies belonging to his new 
royal state. The leading spirit of the movement was 
Mohammad Yakoob, who was formerly known to the 
Russians as a bold and desperate fighter, and bore on 
his body fiv^e marks left by their musket balls. Tired 
of the' slow siege operations, Mohammad Yakoob 
took a small body of soldiers and mai'ched against 
Yarkand, which had been for a year in the posses- 
sion of the Toonganees. A battle was fought under 
the walls of the city, but he was defeated and obliged 
to retreat. The Toonganees and their allies fol- 
lowed. Having rapidly reinforced his army, he lay 
in wait in the jungle, near a town called Kizil, and 
completely routed the enemy, after wdiich he was 
obliged to return to Kashgar to suppress some dis- 
sensions whicli had broken out among the besiegers. 

Early in 1865 the Amban, or Chinese Governor 
of the fortress, called a council of his chief officers 
and proposed making terms w^ith Mohammad Ya- 
koob. The officers assented, and began apportioning 
among themselves the respective shares they should 
furnish as a present to the conqueror. Meanwhile 
the Amban, who had collected his whole familj^ — his 
daughters behind his seat, and his sons serving tea to 
the guests, who were seated on chairs around the 
room — listened attentively for signs of the capture of 
the place. Presently he heard the shouts of Allahoo- 



96 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

aklibar! by wliicli the Mnssiilmen aimonnced their 
entry into the fortress. Thereupon he took liis long 
pipe from his mouth, and sliook the burning ashes 
out on a certain spot of the floor, where a train of 
gunpowder communicated with a barrel which he 
had previously prepared under the floor of the room. 
While the unconscious ofiicers were still consulting 
about a surrender the house was blown up and all 
perished in the ruins. 

Plaving now the use of his whole army Moham- 
mad Yakoob took a city called Maralbashee, by 
which he cut off the communication between the 
allies of the Toonganees at Yarkand and their homes. 
He then advanced against Yarkand, which, after a 
siege of a month, was forced to surrender. These 
successes so increased Mohammad Yakoob's popu- 
larity with the soldiers, and his influence over the 
people, that he felt himself able to assume the sov- 
ereignty. Quietly ignoring Bozoorg Khan, the heir 
to the ancient throne, who had given himself up to 
idleness and debauchery, he sent his envoys to the 
neio^hborino- nations, and took into his own hands the 
government of the kingdom. 

After having spent two years in consolidating his 
power, Mohammad Yakoob set about extending his 
conquests. His first march was against Khoten, and 
it was darkly signalized by an act of treachery to- 
ward the chief of that province and all his principal 
men, who were invited to visit the conqueror and 
then basely assassinated. The city of Khoten re- 
sisted, and was only taken after 3,000 men had been 
slaughtered. During the same year, 1867, he subju- 



PREPARATIONS TO EXPLORE CENTRAL ASIA 97 

gated tlie eastern countries of Ak-sii, Koo-cliee and 
otlier regions inhabited by a mixed Tartar popula- 
tion, who had long been under Chinese rule. 

The news that tlie Russians were constructing a 
fortress in a pass near the head- waters of the Syr- 
daria, or Jaxartes, a week's journey westward from 
Kashgar, compelled Mohammad Yakoob to return 
from liis eastern conquests. In the autumn of 1868 
lie received a visit from Captain lleinthal, a Russian 
officer, and soon afterward sent an envoy of his own 
to St. Petersburg. At the same time he set about 
fortifying the passes in the high range of the Thian- 
Shan, to the north of Kashgar. In the winter of 
1869 he also took possession of the high valley or 
tableland of Sirikol, part of that region called Famir 
(Pamere), where the Oxus finds its source. 

The success of Mohammad Yakoob was the means 
by which Central Asia was opened to European ex- 
plorers. The dangers which surrounded this region 
were not the terrific mountain-passes, far higher 
than those of the Andes — not the character of the 
inhabitants, many of whom are of Aryan blood, and 
nearly all of who!n are cheerful, social, and hospita- 
ble — but the jealousy and suspicion of all previous 
rulers, whether Tartar or Chinese. The first trav- 
eller who was so fortunate as to take advantage of 
the new state of things was Mr. Robert Shaw. In 
twelve vears after Schlao-intweit's fate seemed to 
illustrate the impossibility of such an undertaking, 
he reached Yarkand and Kashgar, and returned in 
safety. 

For several years Mr. Shaw had been stationed in 



98 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

tlie Ivangra Yallej, among the Himalayas. Re- 
peated shooting excursions, extended as far as Cash- 
mere, had rendered him familiar with Asiatic travel, 
and his familiarity with the southern side of that 
gigantic monntain-w^all which defends India on the 
noi'th led him to desire an acquaintance with the 
half-known or unknown regions beyond it. ^Natives 
from Ladak frequently made their appearance in 
the Ivangra Yalley. " Black tents of peculiar make 
appear for a few days at a time in the winter on 
open spaces by the roadsides, and shelter dingy fam- 
ilies of narrow-eyed Thibetans — petty traders, who 
come down with their wares. They are not prepos- 
sessing in appearance, with their high cheek-bones, 
their dirt, and their long pig-tails. But they are the 
most good-tempered of mortals, and they always 
greet 3'ou with a grin. 

" Moreover, eveiy year the few English sportsmen 
who penetrate into the wilder parts of Ladak bring 
down reports of the wonderful animals to be found 
there, and of the curious customs of the Buddhist 
inhabitants. Wild sheep as large as ponies, wild 
cattle with bushy tails like hoi'ses, and long hair on 
their flanks reaching nearly to the ground, besides an- 
telopes and gazelles, are to be obtained by those who 
toil sufficiently ; while, for non-sportsmen, the curi- 
ous monasteries perched on almost inaccessible rocks, 
with their Romish ceremonial, their pray er-wdi eels, 
their gigantic images, and ancient manuscripts, form 
the chief attraction. 

^*' But while Ladak was thus tolerably well known, 
though situated at the distance of nearly a month's 



PREPARATIONS TO EXPLORE CENTRAL ASIA 99 

march across the mountains, the region beyond it 
seemed to combine all the attractions of mystery and 
remoteness. Some few native traders had been 
known to penetrate to the distant marts of Yarkand, 
and even Kashgar, and they bronght back frightful 
tales of toil endured and of perils escaped. Men's 
lives were there said to be of no more account than 
sheep's, and few traders ever dared to repeat the 
venture. Rumors of rebellion in those regions also 
reached India. The subject Moghuls, a Mussulman 
race, were said to have risen and massacred their 
Chinese masters, and to have established the inde- 
pendence of the ' Land of the Six Cities,' as they 
called the country which is shown in our maps as 
Chinese Tartary." 

Attracted toward this region in 1867, Mr. Shaw 
extended his usual yearly excursion as far as Ladak. 
Mr. Shaw gives a most vivid and picturesque de- 
scription of the scenery and the sights which the 
traveller encounters on the way. 

" After leaving the narrow fir-crowned gorges, the 
precipitous cliffs, and the glacier-passes of the real 
Himalaya, we entered upon the vast tableland of 
Thibet in the district called Roopshoo ; which, how- 
ever, reminds one at first sight of the British sol- 
diers' remarks about Abyssinia : ' Well, if it is a 
table, it is a table with all the legs uppermost.' 

" Lying at an elevation equal to that of Mont 
Blanc, this plateau consists of broad valleys without 
water, which seem a few hundred yards wide, and are 
really plains of many miles in extent. On either side 
arise rolling mountains of all shades of red, yellow, 



100 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

and black ; the rock occasionallj cropping out near 
the summit to break tlie uniformity of the long 
shingl}^ slopes of debris. Everything is bare gravel, 
both monntains and plains. Not a glimpse of ver- 
dure is to be seen, save in some slight depression 
where the eye at a distance catches a faint yellow 
gleam along the ground, which a nearer approach 
shows to be the effect of some scattered blades of a 
harsh and prickly grass, piercing np throngh the 
gravel like so many discolored porcupine quills. 
When you begin to despair of finding those great 
traveller's requisites, water and wood, your guide 
will lead you into a recess of the hills, where a small 
stream derived from some distant snow-bed far up 
the hill-sides, has given rise, before disappearing 
under the gravel, to a thicket of brushwood two or 
three feet high, and where groups of shallow pits 
surrounded by loose stone walls, each with its rough 
fireplace in the middle, point out where the wander- 
ing tribes of Thibetans occasionally pitch their tents. 
If you are wise, you will take advantage of these 
sheltering side-walls, low and creviced though they 
be, for suddenly, in the afternoon, there will arise a 
terrific blast of deadly cold wind, which will numb 
all the life in your body under a dozen covers, if it 
strike you. The Thibetan traveller cares for no roof 
overhead if he can shelter himself from the wind 
behind a three foot high wall. Hence the numerous 
little stone enclosures clustered together like cells of a 
honeycomb at every halting-place, with one side al- 
ways raised against the prevailing wind. While thus 
sheltering himself fi'om the cold of the afternoon, tlie 



PREPARATIONS TO EXPLORE CENTRAL ASIA 101 

traveller will scarcely believe he is in the same coiin- 
trj where in the morning he was guarding against 
sunstroke, and nearly blinded by the insufferable 
glare. 

" It is a terribly nnsatisfactory country to travel 
in. On those endless plains you never seem to arrive 
anywhere. For hours you march toward the same 
point of the compass, seeing ever the same objects in 
front of you. If you discover another party of 
travellers coming toward you in the distance, you 
may travel for half a day before you meet them. 
The air is so clear that there is no perspective ; 
everything appears in one "plane, and that close to the 
eyes. 

"Approaching a village, you pass a long, low, 
broad wall, covered with flat stones, inscribed with 
sacred sentences in two different styles of the 
Thibetan character. This is a ' Mane,' and not a 
village is without several of them. At each end, 
there is probably a ' Chorten,' in form a large square 
pedestal, surmounted by a huge inverted tea-pot, all 
whitewashed ; while crowning all is a small wooden 
globe or crescent supported on a sort of obelisk. 
These erections, varying from ten to twenty feet in 
height, are supposed to contain the remains of 
sainted Lamas, whose bodies have there been buried 
in a standing position. Little pigeon-holes at the 
sides are filled with numerous small medallions, look- 
ing like lava ornaments. The}^ are moulded into 
wonderful figures of hundred-handed deities, vene- 
rated by this denomination of Buddhists, and are 
composed of clay, mixed with the ashes of other 



102 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

dead Lamas, who are thus, in a material sense, 
transformed at death into the image of their gods. 

" On reaching one of these structures, the devout 
Thibetan invariably passes it on his riglit ; hence the 
road here always bifurcates to allow of this being 
done both by goers and by comers. The scattered 
houses of the village are flat-roofed, two-storied, 
built of liuge sun-dried bricks, with walls sloping 
considerably inward, and finished off with brilliant 
white and red stucco over the doors and windows. 
On the roofs are generally small piles of horns 
(either of wild animals or of domestic sheep and 
goats) stuck all over with small flags and rags of 
colored cotton. Fierce-looking black 'yaks' (the 
cattle of Thibet), with their bushy tails, and long hair 
hanging below their knees and giving them a petti- 
coated appearance, graze about the fields or grunt 
discontentedly as they are led in by the nose to carry 
the traveller's baggage. They are generally con- 
ducted by the women, who wear red and blue petti- 
coats with the stripes disposed up and down, cloth 
boots gartered up to the knee, tight-fitting jackets 
covered with a sheepskin cape (hair inward), some- 
times lined with a scarlet cloth, bare heads with 
curious cloth lappets protecting both ears from the 
bitter wind, and above all, a ' perak,' their most pre- 
cious ornament, consisting of a broad strip of leather 
hanging down the back from the top of the head, and 
sown all over with rows of large false turquoises 
gradually dwindling away to single stones near the 
tip. The men, beardless all, wear similar cloth boots, 
thick woollen frocks girt round the waist and just 




THIBETAN PEASANT. 



PREPARATIONS TO EXPLORE CENTRAL ASIA 103 

reaching below the top of the leggings, and on their 
pig-tailed head a kind of black Phijgian cap, like 
an English drayman's, of which the hanging end 
serves a variety of purposes, being brought down 
either to shade the ej-es from the sun or to shelter 
either ear from the cold, chillj blasts of the after- 
noon. 

"Among the group collected to stare at the trav- 
eller there is generally a Lama, dressed in a red 
robe which allows one arm and shoulder to be bare, 
as is also the head. In his hand he carries a prayer- 
cylinder, which he whirls round on its wooden handle 
by an almost imperceptible motion of the hand, aided 
by a string and small weight attached to it, and as- 
sisting the rotation. Perched on some neighboring 
pinnacle, or jammed against the vertical face of some 
rock, is the Lama's monastery. Such is a Thibetan " 
village, without a tree except a few stunted willows 
along the life-giving water-courses ; wliile all above, 
to the very edge, is a howling wilderness of gravel, 
with no sisrns of man's existence. 

" In the broad valley of the upper Indus, which 
constitutes Ladak, the villages in places extend con- 
tinuously for several miles. The crops are here 
wonderfully luxuriant, and the climate is milder, the 
elevation being only 11,000 feet. The town of Leli 
itself is nestled under the hills, at a distance from 
the river of some four miles up a long, gentle gravel- 
ly slope. 

" Arriving here, I was preparing to study the 
Thibetan manners and customs more attentively, but 
the first walk through the town at once dispelled all 



104: TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

the rather contemptuous interest which I had begun 
to take in the people of the place, bj introducing a 
greater interest in lieu thereof. For stalking about 
the streets, or seated in silent rows along the bazaai', 
were to be seen men of a different type from those 
around. Their large white turbans, their beards, 
their long and ample outer robes, reaching nearlj- to 
the ground and open in front, showing a shorter 
iinder-coat girt at the waist, their heavy riding-boots 
of black leather, all gave them an imposing air ; 
while their dignified manners, so respectful to others, 
and yet so free from Indian crins^ino; or Thibetan buf- 
foonery, made them seem like men among monkeys 
compared with the people around them. 

" Perhaps it was partly the thought of their mys- 
terious home which imparted to these Toorkee mer- 
chants such a halo of interest. Visitants fi'om a 
world of hitherto forbidden access to all othei's, these 
very men must have witnessed the tremendous ven- 
geance which, like a second Sicilian Yespers, had 
recently consigned 50,000 invaders to a violent death. 
They had probably themselves taken part in the mas- 
sacre of the Chinese idolaters. Their eyes must be 
quite accustomed to the wholesale executions which 
were said to be of daily occurj-ence in those distracted 
regions. Their ancestors, right back to the time of 
Tamerlane and Genghiz Khan, must have taken 
part in those convulsions which, originating in Cen- 
tral Asia, have been felt even in the distant West." 

It was fortunate for Mr. Shaw that just at this 
time the Indian Government enforced a considerable 
reduction of the duties on the trade between Cash- 



PREPARATIOJS'S TO EXPLORE CENTRAL ASIA 105 

mere, Laclak, and Central Asia. The natives of 
Yarkand, who were then in Leh, came to him to ex- 
press their gratitude for the measure, and it was 
evident that the good reports sent home would en- 
able him to undertake the journey under very favor- 
able auspices. He stayed a month at Leh, studying 
the character of the people, and collecting informa- 
tion. Leaving late in October, he was barely able, 
by forced marches, to cross the pass into India, be- 
fore it was closed for the season by the snow. Hav- 
ing finally reached his home in the Kangra Yalley, 
lie at once began to prepare for an expedition the 
following year. His companion was not able to ac- 
company him, so he determined to go alone, as an 
English merchant, with a stock of goods suited to the 
markets of Yarkand and Kashgar. 

In order to avoid suspicion, Mr. Shaw decided to 
make no measurements, take no observations, and to 
rely on a small prismatic compass, which might be 
considered as a trinket by the natives. As an assist- 
ant and confidential agent, he engaged a Mussulman 
named Diwan Baksh, who had been in his service as 
a writer. The latter understood Persian and Arabic, 
was familiar with the etiquette of the native courts, 
and the fact that he had a family in the Kangra 
Yalley seemed to be a sufficient guarantee for his 
fidelity. 



CHAPTER X. 

JOURNEY TO THE KARAKASH RIVER 

O'N Mav 6, 1868, Mr. Shaw started on his second 
jonrney to Ladak. His progress at first was 
very slow. His assumed character of merchant 
obh'ged him to take a lai-ge quantity of goods, the 
transport of which became a serious matter. He was 
obliged to go ahead and provide change of mules 
or porters, at the end of every seven or eight days' 
march. On reaching the valley of Kooloo, a native 
doctor, maintained there by the Government, came 
to report that an orphan boy of Yarkand, the only 
survivor of a family which had gone on a pilgrimage 
to Mecca two or three years before, had been left in 
liis hands. He was a rosy, fat-cheeked youth, ap- 
parently quite self-possessed and happy, with high 
cheek-bones and narrov/ eyes, very Mongolian in 
type, dressed in a curious combination of the gar- 
ments of Mecca, India, and Turkestan. He wore a 
red skull-cap from the first place, a white cotton 
frock from the second, with a stout pair of Yarkand 
riding-boots reaching to the knee. When Mr. Shaw 
asked him whether he would accompany him back to 
his old home, he at once answered, " Yes." He was 
immediately attached to the expedition, in the belief 
that his restoration to liis family Avould be a good 
introduction to the officials of Yarkand. 



JOURNEY TO THE KARAKA8II BIVER 107 

The Bara Laclia pass of tlie Himalayas, by wliich 
Ladak is entered, could not be crossed until July 2d, 
on account of its great elevation and the quantity of 
snow. Mr. Shaw thus describes the region : 

"The Bara Lacha is the boundary between two 
separate regions distinguished by their physical char- 
acters. That which we have already passed through 
may be called the true Himalayan region. Here the 
gigantic ranges are covered with perpetual snow, fur- 
rowed by glaciers, and they rise from amid dense 
forests which clothe their flanks up to a certain eleva- 
tion. They are separated by deep gorges, whose 
sides are precipices, and through which large rivers 
flow. In fact, the scenery is Alpine. 

" Henceforward, however, we must bear in mind 
that we are in the barren or Thibetan region, whei'e 
green spots are about as rare as islands in the ocean, 
and universal gravel is the rule." 

Before proceeding to Leh, the capital, Mr. Shaw 
determined to make a trip to the eastward of Ladak, 
skirting the borders of Chinese Thibet, in order to 
avoid the town by crossing the Indus higher up its 
course, and strike into a new route which was sup- 
posed to lead more directly into Eastern Turkestan. 
He left the main route to Leh at a point called 
Ivookshin, and travelled eastward for twelve days 
over the high tableland of Roopshoo, the average 
elevation of which is 15,000 feet above the sea, while 
the scattered peaks frequently rise to the height of 
20,000. The road then gradually descended toward 
the valley of the Indus, after crossing which and an- 
other barren range of mountains, Mr. Shaw reached 



108 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

the Pangong Lake, on the Chinese frontier. Writ- 
ing from his camp on its shores, on July 20th, he 
gives the following picture of the scenery : 

" It is altogether about eighty miles long, but only 
four or five miles wide. The color of its water, the 
shape of its mountains, the climate (at this moment), 
everything almost, reminds me of the lake of Ge- 
neva. But there is one great exception to be made : 
there is not one blade of green ! For the distant 
mountain view this does not make much difference. 
The purples and bines remain the same. But, for the 
nearer view the alteration is most striking. Instead 
of the green vineyards and trees of Lausanne and 
Yevay, you. have a great sloping plain of gravelly 
white sand, with less grass than on a well-trodden 
gravel walk. The lake being brackish, although 
beautifully clear and deep blue, does not produce any 
grass on its banks. 

" Four or five days ago we crossed the upper In- 
dus (northeastward). The stream was only fifty 
yards across — rather a contrast with the same river 
as it passes through the Punjab and Sinde, where 
during the floods it is ten miles wide ! Have you 
noticed what a curious course it has? It rises in the 
mysterious and sacred lake of Mansoi-awar, near the 
source of the great Brahmapootra. It runs north- 
west for many hundred miles before its course be- 
comes known. It continues in the same direction 
throuoch Ladak and Baltistan, after which it ac^ain 
enters a mysterious and unexplored country, where it 
entirely changes its direction, emerging at Attock, 
with a southwesterly course through the Ptinjab and 



JOURNEY TO THE KAUAKASH RIVER lU9 

Sinde. It is very curious knowing little bits of a 
river, wliile the rest is altogether unknown," 

A week later, Mr. Shaw met Dr. Caylej, then 
British Kesident at Leh, who had been exploring the 
region eastward, as far as the Ktien-Liin range. On 
returning with him to Leh, which place they reached 
in the beginning of August, Mr. Shaw found there 
a Yarkand envoy who was on his way homeward 
from a mission to Cashmere. Here was an oppor- 
tunity too auspicious to be neglected. "I mentioned 
to him," saj-s Mr. Shaw, " that I intended to go as 
far as the Karakash River, where Dr. Cayley had 
just been. He said, 'li you come as far as that, you 
must come on to Yarkand ; for how could I I'eport 
to my King that I had left an Englishman so near 
liis country ? ' I said that I heard a great report of 
the justice and greatness of his King, so that I was 
devoured by a desire to go and witness his virtues 
for myself, and that I should be very happy to join 
him (the envoy) in his journey, if he were w^illing. 
He said, * Certainly, he would take me.' Afterward, 
I had another private talk with him. I said that 
perhaps my best plan would be to ask permission of 
his King first, and, for that purpose, to send my 
agent with him. He replied, ' Khoob ast ' (' It is 
good '), and promised that an answer should reach 
me at Leh in forty days. After giving him and 
liis suite some tea to drink, I again said, ' Then 
I will consider it settled that my servant goes with 
yon, if that be your pleasure.' He turned round, and 
clapped my man on the back in a hearty way, saying, 
' Of course, it is my pleasure — he is my brother.' 



110 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASLA 

Since then lie lias desired my man, Diwan Baklisli, 
to be in readiness to accompan}- liini ; so I trust that 
is settled. I intend to send with him some presents 
for the King and other chiefs there, in order to pro- 
cure permission for myself to follow. The envoy, I 
hear, has just sent off a letter to his master, saying 
that an Englishman (myself) whom he had met at 
Lahore wlien he went down to visit the Lord-Sahib 
(the Governor of the Punjab), had now come to La- 
dak, and had asked to be allowed to go with him to 
Yarkand ; but tliat he had refused permission until 
liis lliglmess's pleasure was known ! " 

The Yarkand envoy left Leli August 28th. Mr. 
Sliaw's agent, Diwan Baksh, accompanied him, bear- 
ing a letter and presents for Mohammad Yakoob, the 
new" ruler of Central Asia. It now only i-emained to 
make the necessary preparations for tlie journey, and 
then follow, in the expectation of receiving permis- 
sion to proceed on reaching the Yarkand frontier. 
The chief difficult}^ was to procure means of trans- 
port for the goods and supplies. The carrying ti'ade 
between Ladak and Yarkand is in the hands of a set 
of half-breeds, called argoons, who own some miser- 
able, half-starved ponies, for which thej^ demand ex- 
orbitant hire. The fact that Mr. Shaw, as a stranger, 
might be unfavorably received in Yarkand, enabled 
these men to practise all sorts of imposition upon 
him. Those who had good horses, after making him 
agree to pay an enormous price for them, would final- 
ly start away without a word of explanation, with 
some other employer ; while those who had skeletons 
of horses, or no horses at all, eagerly entered into 



JOURNEY TO THE KARAKASH RIVER 111 

agreements which tliej were utterly unable to fulfil. 
The Yarkand merchants alwa3's make the journey 
with their own horses, and Mr. Shaw's better plan 
would have been to buy, had it been possible at that 
time to obtain good animals. 

" All these troubles," he says, ^' I will leave to the 
imagination, merely saying that I did not start from 
Leh mitil September 20th, being compelled to trust 
the greater part of the goods to the tender mercies 
of an argoon named ' Momin ' (the faitliful one), 
who promised to start after me in eight or ten days, 
when his horses should be ready. The native Gov- 
ernor of Ladak promised to give the man guides to 
take him by the new route which I was going to try. 
The Governor also gave me an order on several vil- 
lages near the Pangong Lake for ponies, which, ac- 
cording to the custom of the country, the villagers 
are bound to hire out to travellers at fixed rates. 
This determination I had come to when I found I 
could not get enough horses from the argoons to 
carry both the goods and also my own camp and bag- 
gage. I thouglit I could shift for myself, and secure 
ponies from the vihagers better than the servant in 
charge of the goods could do. 

" Just before starting a companion offered himself 
for the journey. Mr. Tliorp, who had formerly been 
in the Ninety-eighth Regiment, and had recently 
been travellins: about in Thibet, hearing: that I was 
starting for Yarkand, volunteered to go with me. 
For the moment I accepted the offer, but afterward, 
on consulting with fi-iends who had the best means 
of judging, I was advised that it would be over-rash 



112 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

to take a companion. I had spoken to tlie' envoy 
only about myself; Iliad written to the King only 
in my own name ; and now, if a second Englishman 
were to appear with me on the frontier, the suspicion 
of these Asiatics would be deeply aroused. Mi*. 
Thorp, with great good-nature, gave in to these rea- 
sons, and consented to abandon his intention of ac- 
companying me — preferring to do that rather than 
risk the failure of my expedition. 

"At this time I also heard a report that another 
Englishman, of the name of Hayward, was on his 
way up with the intention of attempting to reacli 
Yarkand. I wrote liim a letter on the chance of its 
catching him in Cashmere, ui'ging the same reasons 
against his coming which had already prevailed with 
Mr. Tliorp." 

The progress of the expedition was at first very 
slow. On account of the difiiculties of obtaining 
serviceable ponies from the country people, Mi'. Shaw 
was six days in reaching Chagra, at the head of Pan- 
gong Lake. He was obliged to use yaks as beasts of 
burden, since, in addition to the stock of goods, it 
was necessary to carry flour and parched barley for 
the men, and barley for the horses, for two months 
in advance, and to take along a small flock of sheep. 
A seal was placed upon the forelocks of all the ponies, 
to prevent their being exchanged for worse animals. 
The grain and flour were also sealed up in sacks, and 
arrangements were made for serving out on each suc- 
cessive Sunday the provision for the ensuing week. 
The sacks were to be afterward carefully re-sealed 
with Mr. Shaw's own signet-ring. This was necessary 



JOURNEY TO THE KARAKASH RIVER 113 

in order to prevent pilfering and waste, which miglit 
prove fatal in such a desert as he was entering npon. 

While halting at Chagra, and making final prep- 
arations, a message came from the agent, Diwan 
Baksh, instructing Mr. Shaw that he ouglit to be at 
Shahidooha, on the Yarkand frontier, in one month 
from the time oi writing. 

" Leaving Chagra, tlie last Thibetan encampment, 
on the 29tli of September, we crossed the high but 
very gradual and easy pass of Masimik on the 30th, 
and entered Cliang-chenmo.* 

" The character of the Chang-chenmo Yalley is a 
wide, smooth, shingly bed, amidst which the sti'eam 
meanders from side to side. It is bordered by small 
cliffs of clay or conglomerate, sometimes several of 
tliem in tiers one above the other, divided by wide 
terraces, especially at the embouchures of side streams. 
Above these terraces rise the barren mountain sides. 
The soil is absolutely bare." 

While waiting for the goods and ponies from Leh, 
on the high plains of Chang-chenmo, Mr. Shaw first 
received a letter from the other traveller, Hayward, 
saying that he was sent by the Geographical Society, 
and must continue his journey ; and, immediately 
afterward came the announcement that Hayward 
had actually arrived, and was encamped near him. 
On the 14th of October the two met. " We dined 
together," says Shaw, " and talked over plans. He 
said that the Geographical Society had commissioned 
him to explore the route through Chitral (far away 
to the west on the borders of Cabul), and to try and 
* Chang-chenmo means " Great Northern (River)." 



114 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

reacli the Patnir Steppes. The frontier war which 
liad just broken out led him to try the more easterly 
route through Ladak, hoping to get permission at 
Yarkand to visit the Pamir Steppes. lie proposed 
going in the character of an Afghan, having brought 
a complete Afghan dress, and having discarded most 
of the marks of European nationality, such as tents, 
etc. After some consultation, and seeing that 1 was 
going in the character of an Englishman, he deter- 
mined to do so also. Indeed, it would require a most 
perfect acquaintance both with the Afghan language, 
and also wdtli the Mohammedan i-eligious ceremonial 
(an acquaintance only to be obtained by years of ex- 
patriation), to pass muster as an Afghan in a bigoted 
Mussulman country, which swarms with Afghan mer- 
chants and soldiers. 

" The question then remained w^hether we should 
go together or not. On consideration it seemed bet- 
ter that I should appear on the frontier first, and 
alone, in accordance with the aimouncement which 1 
had sent on before. For if, after asking permission 
for one Eno^lishman to enter, two were suddenlv to 
appear together, suspicions w^ould be aroused, and 
they would probably turn both of us back. It was 
determined, therefore, that I should go on before, 
trusting to the effect of my presents and letter for 
admission, while Hayward should follow shortly after 
in the hope that they would not tui-n him back after 
admitting me. If I saw an opportunity, I w^as to do 
what I could to obtain admission for him. This 
seemed the best solution of the difficulty caused by 
the unfortunate coincidence of our two attempts. 



JOURNEY TO THE KARAKASII RIVER 115 

"Meanwliile, ITayward cletenniMed to explore the 
head of the Chang-chenirio Yallej for a possibly bet- 
ter route in that direction." 

On the 16th, Ilayward started on his way, and 
Shaw on his, following the track of the Yarkand en- 
voy np a long ravine to the eastward. After some 
miles he came to a cliff rising thirty feet perpendicu- 
larly from the bed of the stream. Here Adolf 
Schlagintweit, on his way to Yarkand, in 1857, had 
built a very steep and sloping path, but there was 
great difficulty in getting the ponies to tlie top. The 
same day the expedition met some of the envoy's 
men, returning with the horses he had hired. They 
gave Shaw a letter, loitliout date, from his agent, 
saying that he would find somebody to receive him 
at Shahidoolla in a montliyy'6>m date ! 

The next day, following the dry bed of the stream, 
they reached the summit of the pass. The view to 
the south, ver}^ broad and stormy, embraced ranges 
of mountains, streaked with glaciers ; to the north 
stretched a flat tableland, scarcely lower than the 
pass itself, which was about 19,000 feet above the 
sea. " Tashee " (one of the attendants) and I walked 
on to keep ourselves warm, but, halting at sunset, 
had to sit and freeze for several houi's before the 
things came up. The best way of keeping warm on 
such an occasion is to squat down, kneeling against a 
bank, resting your head on the bank, and nearly be- 
tween your knees. Then tuck your overcoat in all 
around you, over head and all ; and if you are lucky, 
and there is not too much wind, you will make a 
little atmosphere of your own inside the covering 



116 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

which will be snug in comparison with tlie outside 
air. Your feet suffer chiefly, but yon learn to tie 
yourself into a kind of knot, bringing as many sur- 
faces of your body together as possible. I have 
passed whole nights in this kneeling position and 
slept well ; whereas I should not have got a wink 
had I been sti*etched at full length with such a scanty 
covering as a great-coat. At last the camp arrived. 
We had brought a little fuel with us, and melted 
some ice for water. No grass at all for the cattle. 

" The next day I breakfasted as usual while camp 
was breaking up. We travelled through the high 
downs till we reached a little plain, bounded on 
the farther side by a sandy ridge, and then crossed 
tliis plain northward. My Mussulman table-servant, 
Kabeer, was liere quite done up with the rarity of 
the air at this great elevation, so I gave him my 
pony to ride. We ascended the sandy slope at the 
end (almost one hundred feet high), and then saw 
another immense plain at our feet, about four hun- 
dred feet lower than our own level. This has been 
christened by the Thibetans who have crossed it 
' Lingzeetang.' To the east and west of it snowy 
mountains loomed in the distance, peering up over 
the edge of the plain like ships at sea that are hull- 
down. In front of us to the north, it was bounded 
far away by a long sandy ridge with the tops of 
smaller hills showing over it. Descending into this 
plain, w^e encamped about five miles out on it, under 
the lee of a small claj-ey rise. The soil is all clay, 
covered with flinty stones and rough agates. Xot a 
vestige of grass ; but a little fuel in the shape of the 



JOURNEY TO THE KABAKA8H RIVER 117 

lavender-plant, as it may be called. This consists of 
a little bunch of shoots, three or four inches high, 
looking lilve lavender. These little bunches are scat- 
tered about seven or eight yards apart, or more. 
They have a woody root, much more substantial than 
might be imagined from their insignificant appear- 
ance above ground ; and these roots are a perfect 
God-send to the traveller. His men go out with lit- 
tle picks and dig them up, but it takes several hours, 
even where they are most plentiful, before a man can 
collect enouo^h to lio;ht a fire with. The shoots are 
sometimes eaten by famishing horses, and to a cer- 
tain extent stay their hunger where there is no grass, 
as here. So late in the season there was no water 
anywhere on this plain, but we found a few patches 
of snow, and melted enough to cook with and drink. 
There was not, however, fuel enough to melt any for 
the horses to drink, and they had, for many days, to 
content themselves with munching snow to allay 
their thirst. 

''The 20tli brought a lovely morning to cross the 
plain. We marched straight for the opening be- 
tween two hills which I called the 'dome' and the 
' chorten ' (a common Thibetan monument) from 
their shapes. Lots of mirage, but no real signs of 
water. After several hours across the plain we came 
to the rising ground, about one hundred feet high. 
Another flat on the top, then a descent into the 
mouths or upper ends of a lot of rocky-sided valleys. 
Took one leading to the right of the ' dome,' and 
camped about a mile down it near a I'ock. Fear- 
fully cold wind ; almost impossible to pitch the 



118 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

tents ; a real liurricane, blowing the concentrated 
essence of east winds. Managed to get something to 
eat and get to bed. Third night of no grass for the 
cattle. We give the ponies barlej, but the jaks re- 
fuse it." 

The next day the expedition reached Lak-zung, or 
the Eagle's Nest, a name given to tlie valley leading 
down northward from the lofty plateau they had just 
crossed. Althouo^h the elevation was still sixteen 
thousand feet above the sea, there was a little grass 
to be had for the famished animals. At this place 
he was detained four days, in order to rest and re- 
cruit the animals. The cold was intense and the 
winds were so fierce and keen that even the natives 
suffered from their exposure. It was impossible to 
write, as the ink instantly froze in the pen. 

On the 26th the expedition started again, and 
after a long day's march, over a plain slightly de- 
scending to the northward, reached a small lake of 
ice, at a place called Tarldatt. Here Shaw was de- 
layed another daj^, on account of his Hindu servant, 
Kabeer, having lagged behind with some of the ani- 
mals. Both yaks and ponies now began to show 
signs of giving out, and the marches became very 
short and wearisome to all. Beyond Tarldatt ex- 
tended the same desolate region, but with patches of 
grass in the hollows. The uplands were beds of salt 
or soda. ^' Above is a very thin cake of earth, below 
which the foot sinks into the finest loose powdered 
soda, pure white, four or five inches deep. Below 
this is a sheet of impure common salt and saltpetre, 
which you can hear crack like thin ice under fresh 



JOUMNEY TO THE KARAKASH RIVER 119 

snow, as you walk. In many places the coat of earth 
is absent, and the soda is hard and irregular. It was 
horrible walking for five hours over it ; although we 
saw our halting-place from the first, we never seemed 
to approach it." 

Finally, on October 30th, the soda plain gave 
place to a narrow valley, bounded by a broken gran- 
ite ridge on its northeastern side. Beyond this 
ridge was the valley of the Karakash, one of the six 
rivers of Central Asia. It flows past the walls of 
Khoten, and finally loses itself in the sands of the 
great Desert of Lob. Over the hills beyond the 
river rose the high, snowj- peaks of the range now 
called Klien-Liin by European geographers, which 
was first crossed by the brothers Hermann and Rob- 
ert Schlagintweit. 

By this time several of tlie yaks had been left be- 
hind, but most fortunately, two which had been 
abandoned by the Yarkand envoy's party, and had 
entirely recruited themselves on the meadows of the 
Karakash, were caught and made to do service. 
The cattle all drank of the river, breaking the slushy 
ice with their feet. This was their first drink of 
water in fifteen days ; since leaving the Chang- 
clienmo they had quenched their thirst with snow. 

" Beyond the point we had now reached, none of 
my men had gone. We were thus quite ignorant 
where we should find grass or wood, or how long to 
make our marches. I had to feel the way by riding 
on ahead of the caravan, and toward evening sur- 
veying the route before us from some high point. 
Anxiously I looked forward as each new vista opened 



120 TBAVEL8 IN CENTRAL A8IA 

out ; every side-valley I examined with care. Imag- 
ine my horror, as the afternoon advanced, to find that 
this sterile soil did not supply even the lavender- 
plant for fuel, which had not liitherto failed lis. 
Grass I entirely despaired of finding, and tlie bed of 
the stream was dry ! The three great requisites for 
a traveller's camping-gronnd were all absent — fuel, 
grass, and water ! Evening was beginning to close 
when I reached a high bed of shingle and debris 
which issued from a ravine on the north, and closed 
the view down the main valley. I mounted this to 
get a view, and at the lower end of a small plain I 
distinguished a dark strip of ground. Hope began to 
revive, but I could hardly believe that I saw bushes ! 
However, my glass showed them distinctly, and, what 
was more, there was a glimmer of white ice visible 
among them. I pushed on, and after a seemingly 
interminable stretch of level in the valley I reached 
the first bushes that I had seen for a month. We 
found that the ice I had seen was on the banks of a 
stream of water,* which came in through a narrow 
gorge from the left or south side of the valley, and 
filled the hitherto dry bed of the main valley." 

The next day the temperature rose to 40°, and the 
Karakash flowed freely between borders of ice. The 
blood of man and beast, which had almost congealed 
in the icy winds of the terrible heights, began to thaw 

* Mr. Hayward afterward struck the head of the stream about 
eighty miles up, and followed it down to this spot. He proved it 
to be the real head of the Karakash River, and that it offers a 
better route than that which I had taken across the high plains. 
— Shaw. 



H 



JOURNEY TO THE KARAKA8H RIVER 121 

again ; brushwood for fuel continued abundant, and 
grass increased until it became a thick turf. For five 
or six days more tliey followed the vallej', until a 
break in the mountain-range to the northward (a spur 
of the Ktien-Liin) announced the point where the 
Karakash turns eastward and descends to the warm 
plains of Khoten. Every day some of the yaks left 
by the envoy's party were picked up, until there 
were nine fresh animals to replace those which had 
fallen by the way. The physical difficulties in the 
way of the expedition were now over, but the more 
serious moral obstacles were yet to be overcome. 



CHAPTEE XL 

DETENTION AT THE FRONTIER 

SHAW'S account of his arrival at tlie frontier of 
the Yai'kand country, and his reception there, is 
so animated and picturesque that it must be given in 
his own words, written on the spot : 

'* I am now writing in my tent, which is pitched 
on the flat roof of a little fort on the Karakash Kiver. 
It consists of a lot of little rooms, surrounding a 
court-yard, into which they open. A little parapet 
of sun-dried bricks with loopholes for muskets runs 
round the outer edge of this flat roof, while at the 
corners little round towers, also loopholed, command 
the four sides. This primitive fort stands in the 
centre of a little shinglj^ plain. The Karakash, a 
small trout- stream, runs past a few hundred yards 
off, fringed with low bushes, while all around rise 
the barren rocky mountains. Inside is a more cheer- 
ful scene. A group of Moghul * soldiers are sitting 
round a fire at one end of the court-yard, which is 
not above fifteen yards long. Their long matchlock 
guns hang from the wall behind them, twelve in 
number ; three or four high-peaked saddles are ranged 

* Moghul is the name given in India to natives of Central Asia. 
I learnt afterward to call them, as they called themselves, 
*'Toork." 



DETENTION AT THE FRONTIER 123 

above them. The dress of the Moghuls consists of a 
long robe fastened round the waist, with very wide 
trousers below. The officers' robes are made of a 
stuff half silk, half cotton, with large patterns in very 
bright colors. Some of the men wear dull-red 
Yarkandee cloth, some of them English printed 
calico, and some white felt ; there is no uniformity. 
Some tuck the long robe into the wide trousers, 
some wear a second robe, open in front and loose at 
the waist, over all. The chiefs have on their heads 
a conical cap, with a turban tied round it. The men 
mostly have lambskin caps. One of the two officers 
is now fitting a fresh match into his gun ; the rest 
are looking on, or cooking their food in one of the 
rooms. Meanwhile they talk a language harsh and 
guttural, in which the consonants are constantly 
clashing. My ' Bhots ' from Ladak sit reverentially 
in the distance, rubbing the skins of the sheep we 
have killed by the way. The Moghuls treat them 
kindly, but as if they were animals of some sort, 
monkeys for instance. They call them ^Tihctee^ a 
name which I have hitherto heard used only by the 
Europeans. My Indian servants keep out of the way ; 
they don't know what to make of our hosts, and are 
more than half afraid of them. As for me, they and 
I are the greatest of friends. In a short time, I shall 
be going down to entertain the officers at my four 
o'clock tea. We sit over my fire, and drink an end- 
less succession of cups of tea together, eating my bis- 
cuits and trying to converse. 

'' As day dawns, I hear one of them intoning the 
* Arise and pray, arise and pray, prayer is better than 



124 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

sleep.' Yesterday two of tHe soldiers had their 
liands tied in front of them, their clothes were 
stripped from their shoulders, and they were fero- 
ciously lashed by one of the officers w^ith his whip, 
till they were covered with blood. Mj^ servants, who 
saw this, asked the reason ; they were told it was be- 
cause the men did not get up early to say their 
prayers. The same evening one of these two men 
was singing Toorkee songs, to which accompaniment 
two others were dancing before the fire. I joined 
the party, and was fed with Yarkand walnuts by one 
of the officers. The two dancers wound in and out, 
keeping time with a beat of the feet and a chasse^ 
and slowly waving their arms. When tired, they 
bowed to the assembly and sat down. 

" Meanwhile, you don't know whether I have 
been taken prisoner in a foray by Yakoob Beg's 
soldiers, or how I came to find myself shut up in a 
fort with a dozen of them ; so I must begin again 
from where I left off. 

" After a wearisome mai'ch of six days, altogether, 
down the same valley, without any incidents worth 
notice, on the morning of the sixth day, shortly after 
leaving our camp (which was in a fine meadow of 
really luxuriant grass, produced by the numerous 
arms into which the stream branched), we came 
upon a spot where a large flock of sheep had evi- 
dently been penned. This sign of the former pres- 
ence of men put us all on the qui vive, as we were 
utterly ignorant what reception we might meet with 
should we come across an}^ of the wandering tribes 
of shepherds that frequent these mountains. All we 




KIRGHIZ MAN 



DETENTION AT THE FRONTIER 125 

knew was that certain nomads, calling themselves 
Kirghiz, had formerly rendered the more westerly 
road to Yarkand unsafe by their depredations (the 
name of Kirghiz Jungle is still retained by the spot 
which they haunted), and that tribes of the same 
name occasionally brought their sheep up the valley 
of the Karakash. Plowever, the sheepfold was of 
last year, and did not denote any recent visit. But 
later in the day, as I rode on before the caravan, the 
fresh print of a man's foot struck my eye. It was 
on a soft piece of earth, after which the path was 
hard and stony. I was thus unable at once to verify 
my impression, and thought I must have been de- 
ceived. A little further on, however, the footmark 
was again visible by the side of a horse's track. I 
could not help laughing as I thought of Robinson 
Crusoe and his footprint. When we came to the 
end of the open plain in which we were travelling, 
and the valley narrowed at a projecting point, I 
halted the caravan, and went on myself on foot to 
spy. Scrambling over the hill, I soon came to a 
ridge which commanded a view down the valley. 
Carefully, as when stalking game, I raised my head, 
and a minute's inspection through my glass showed 
me a grassy plain, sprinkled with bushes, and in the 
middle a Kirghiz ' yourt.' There was no mistak- 
ing it after reading Atkinson's books. A circular 
structure, with a low dome - shaped roof, covered 
with a dirty-white material, evidently felt. Around 
it were tethered four or five horses and yaks, while 
the glass showed a man in a long tunic and high 
boots, busied in attendance on the cattle. From 



12G TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

the centre of the roof a light cloud of smoke was 
escaping. 

" I can't describe to you my sensations at behold- 
ing this novel scene. I felt tliat I had now indeed 
begun my travels. Now, at length, my dreams of 
Toorks and Kirghiz were realized, and I was coming 
into contact witli tribes and nations hitherto entirely 
cut off from intercourse with Europeans. I drew 
carefully back and rejoined njy caravan. After a 
short consultation, we determined to go and encamp 
alongside of the yourt ; as we must pass the Kirghiz, 
and our halting short of them, though so near, would 
be ascribed to fear if they discovered our camp. 
Loading all the rifles, four in number, we set out 
again. I was amused to see my Hindostanee table- 
servant Kabeer, who had hitherto caused endless 
trouble by lagging behind, now, with scared face, 
keep himself close to my horse's tail, as I rode on in 
advance of the caravan. The Kirghiz was so busy 
at his occupation that he did not see me till I was 
within twenty yards of his yourt. At the sound of 
my voice, he turned round and, apparently w^ithout 
astonishment, came forward smilingly to meet me. 
A second man now came out of the yourt. We 
could only at first say ' salaam,' and smile at one an- 
other ; but he told me that he was a Kirghiz, and we 
thought we understood from him that thei'e were 
some soldiers of the King waiting for me at Shahi- 
doolla. This would account for his non-sui'prise at 
what must have been our strange appearance to him. 
Both the Kirghiz were quite young fellow^s, appa- 
rently brothers, with fine rosy complexions, about as 



DETENTION AT THE FRONTIER 127 

dark as a bronzed Englishman, A woman presently 
appeared, but kept in the background. She was 
rather pretty, and wore a strip of white cotton cloth 
wound round her head, quite evenly, to a consider- 
able thickness, like a roll of white tape. A long 
streamer of the same cloth, ornamented with a 
colored pattern, hung down her back. Her dress 
was a long tunic, girt round the waist like the men's 
and reaching nearly to the ankles, which displayed a 
pair of high red leather boots. The men's tunics or 
robes were shorter, and their head-dress a fur cap 
with ear-lappets. 

" Here I encamped ; the Kirghiz good-lmmoredly 
assisting in the erection of the tent, lighting a fire for 
me, etc. Presently arrived a large flock of sheep, 
with another Kirghiz, in a long sheep and ibex skin 
robe. My Guddee servants, themselves shepherds by 
birth, estimated the flock at over a thousand. The 
sheep resemble those of parts of Afghanistan, hav- 
ing large flat tails. When the lambs had been 
brought out, and given to their mothers, the three 
Kirghiz retired into the yourt. Thence they emerged 
again and came up to me, bringing a present of a 
sheep and a huge skinful of butter. These wei'e 
most thankfully accepted, and the sheep immediately 
killed ; the butter was excellent. I gave them, in 
return, some English powder, with a looking-glass for 
the young lady, at which they were delighted. 

"The next morning, very early, I sent off two of 
my Ladakmen down the valley to ShahidooUa, which 
the Kirghiz said was neai*. ShahidooUa is the place 
where I had appointed that a messenger should meet 



128 JTMAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

me with a letter from Diwaii Bakbsli (the Mnssul- 
man whom I had sent on before me to ask permis- 
sion of the King for me to enter his country). There 
is no village ; it is merely a camping-gronnd on the 
regular old route between Ladak and Yarkand, and 
the first place where I should strike that route. 

" While I was at breakfast, arrived two Moghul 
soldiei-s from Shahidoolla. We could not converse, 
but I looked at their guns, and gave them some tea ; 
after this they departed. In the afternoon three 
other Moghul horsemen arrived, dressed in finer 
clothes, consisting of long robes of bright colors, one 
above the other,- wide trousers, and turbans tied over 
pointed silk caps. I made them sit down, and gave 
them tea (an unfailing part of the ceremony). The 
Kirghiz (with whom our acquaintance was but a few 
hours older) acted as interpreters, by signs and by 
means of a few words of Toorkee which I had picked 
up from them. They made me exhibit all my curi- 
osities, the breech-loading rifies, the revolver, the 
spy-glass, the watch, etc., etc. When these prodigies 
had been duly wondered at, they explained to me 
that one of the three was going to ride off immedi- 
ately to Yarkand to announce my arrival to the 
King, and that I must give him a token of some 
kind, or a letter. Accordingly I wrote a short note 
to his Majesty in English (distrusting my Persian 
writing), and, having put it in a pink envelope, 
sealed with my ring (bearing my full name in Pei-- 
sian characters), delivered it to the messenger. Im- 
mediately all three mounted and started off at a gal- 
lop, bearing my best wishes for their speed}' journey. 



DETENTION AT THE FRONTIER 129 

" At Shaliidoolla we were most civilly treated, the 
best rooms in tiie fort given up to us (you must re- 
member the fort much resembles an English pig-stye, 
and not picture to j^ourself apartments of Oriental 
luxurj^). I was told that they had been stationed 
liere by the King nearly a month ago, to await my 
arrival, with orders to treat me as an honored guest, 
and see that I wanted for nothing. Before proceed- 
ing further, however, I must await the orders of the 
King in answer to the news of my actual arrival. 
The messenger, they said, would reach Yarkand on 
relays of horses in three days, and return in the same 
time, so that I should be detained about a week. I 
resigned myself to this fate, and during the next 
day or two tried to improve the occasion by learning 
a lot of Toorkee words.. It was really rather amus- 
ing to work out the meaning of words, and build 
quite a vocabulary out of a most slender beginning. 
Men and officers all joined in explaining their mean- 
ing, and guessing at mine ; they showed considerable 
cleverness in this, and I progressed rapidly. 

" By Thursday, however, I began to get very tired 
of my detention, and proposed a wild-yak hunt. I 
understood that these animals were to be found 
within a day's march of Shaliidoolla. Allowing a 
day for hunting, we should be back just in time for 
the return of the messencrer. N^ext morninor the two 
officers and three or four men and I started to ride 
up one of the side valleys. We ate our mid-day 
meal together (consisting of Yarkandee biscuits), and 
were so fortunate as to espy a herd of sixteen wild 
cattle shortly after noon. Leaving our horses at the 



130 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

proposed camping-gronnd, we started to stalk oui* 
game. But a horseman was seen galloping toward 
us; the glass showed that he was a Moghul, and as 
he approached, he shouted to us to come back. When 
he reached us he announced that some great man 
from Yarkand had arrived to fetch me ; that he had 
turned back the cattle, carrying my tent, etc., and we 
must return at once. 

" Delighted at the news, I mounted, and away we 
galloped down the valley, reaching Shahidoolla in 
less than half the time we had taken coming. At 
the gate a soldier in fine clothes was mounting guard 
(a thing they had not done before, nor, in fact, did 
they do it afterward). When I entered the court- 
yard, a dignified Moghul, in a long silken robe, and 
wearing a silver-mounted sabre, was sitting in soli- 
tary grandeur on a carpet before the fire. He did 
not rise at my approach, but motioned to me to sit 
down by his side. This I did, and tried to address 
him in Persian. He shook his head, and after this 
seemed to pay no further attention to me, talking 
loudly with the others, who were now allowed to sit 
down on the other side of the fire. 

" My first friends saw that I was displeased, and, 
after a whispered consultation, one of them came 
and sat down by my fire to explain matters. This 
officer, he said, was a very great man, who always 
sat before the King. He had been sent to meet us in 
the capacity of Mihmandar (or welcomer of guests), 
to show me honor, and supply all my wants. Pres- 
ently we discovered that an old man who had come 
vvjth the Mihmandar from Sanjoo (a frontier town), 



DETENTION AT THE FRONTIER 131 

had some knowledge of Thibetan. Conversation im- 
mediately became easy, for T had with me a Thibetan 
interpreter named Tashee, a most useful fellow. 
The great man sent to say that he wished to pay me 
a visit in private, if I wonld spread a carpet in ni}^ 
room. The carpet was accordingly spread and a 
candle lit, and in came the Mihmandar. At this 
visit, and at a still more formal one which he paid 
me the next morning after breakfast, he loaded me 
with civilities of an Eastern sort, presenting me with 
about a dozen trays of fruits of different kinds (pome- 
granates, dried raisins, ' pistachio ' nuts, etc.), to- 
gether with a loaf of Russian sugar, while a couple 
of sheep, after much pushing and shoving, were 
made to show their faces at the door. Many com- 
plimentary speeches followed in the name of his 
King. I was to have no trouble or care ; whatever 
I wished for, I had only to mention ; he would pro- 
cure anything I desired. All his men and horses 
were at my disposal. I replied that my chief feeling 
was gratitude at the condescension of the King in 
sending such a very great man to meet me ; and my 
chief care w^as at the inconvenience which he was 
suffering in coming to such a desolate spot. Com- 
pliments, I believe, can never be too fulsome for 
Orientals ; they require them strong and highly fla- 
vored. 

" Then followed a series of questions as to my 
profession, whether I was a soldier or a merchant, 
the number of horseloads of goods that were follow- 
ing me, when they would arrive, how many loads I 
had with me, what they could consist of, as they 



132 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

were not merchandise, etc., etc. Every now and 
then the series of questions was broken to assure me 
that, in any case, I need be under no apprehensions, 
for the King's orders were to welcome me, whoever 
1 might be. I thought to myself, you must be very 
guileless yourselves to imagine that I could be caught 
in such a trap. If I were assuming a false character, 
it is not likely that such assurances, coupled with 
such anxious questioning, would induce me to reveal 
myself without disguise. As, however, I had noth- 
ing to conceal, my only fear was lest my servants, 
with Indian abhorrence of truth, should tell unnec- 
essary lies in my absence ; for I felt sure they would 
be carefully cross-examined. When, therefore, the 
great man had taken his leave (this time he politely 
motioned to me not to rise from my seat), I called 
them all together, and pointed out to them that we 
were all in the same boat, to sink or to swim, and 
that our success and safetj^ depended greatly on our 
present conduct. I therefore cautioned them against 
talking more than they could help about our own af- 
fairs ; but what they did say must be the exact 
truth. Thus only could we be sure of all telling the 
same story when separately questioned, and of not 
being caught giving different versions. Of my Gud- 
dees I have not much fear, but the others are by 
birth and education liars. When doubtful of the 
intentions of a questioner, or afraid of vague ill-con- 
sequences, they naturally seek for safety in untruth, 
as a wild beast does in darkness. It is a simple and 
artless precaution, singularly inappropriate in our 
present circumstances. The Moghuls are devoured 



DETENTION AT THE FBONTIEB 133 

with suspicion. The unheard-of event of an Eng- 
lisliman arriving on their borders seems to have put 
them ont of all their calcnlations. Not a day passes 
but one or more horsemen arrive and depart with 
orders or messages. Never has this road been so 
much trodden, never has Shahidoolla witnessed such 
animation." 

On November iTth, the messenger who had been 
sent on to Yarkand to announce Shaw's arrival at 
Shahidoolla, returned. He was accompanied by one 
of the caravan-men, named Jooma, who had been 
sent with Diwan Baksh, Shaw's agent, to prepare 
for his coming. As this man Jooma spoke Hin- 
dostanee, Shaw learned immediately that the pink 
English letter he had sent to the King, on reaching 
the frontier, had been forwarded from Yarkand to 
His Majesty, who was then in the mountains, four 
days' march beyond Kashgar. The messenger who 
carried the letter had not waited for a reply, but had 
immediately returned from Yarkand, bringing large 
supplies of floui', barley, and other articles. The 
answer of the King would be forwarded by a mes- 
senger travelling day and night, as soon as it reached 
Yarkand, and might be expected at Shahidoolla in 
two or three days more. Shaw also received a long 
letter from his agent, and a short note from the en- 
voy whom the former accompanied, but, as they 
were written in a close Persian running-hand, he was 
unable to read them. Nevertheless, his mind was 
easy ; for there was no private signal of danger, 
which he had instructed his agent to give, by cutting 
off one of the corners of the letter. 



134 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

The man Jooma reported that he had overheard a 
conversation of some of the native officials at Yar- 
kand, in which they agreed that Sliaw wonld proba- 
bly be allowed to visit the King, Mohammad Ya- 
koob, but that he wonld be made to wait at the 
frontier some time before receiving permission to 
proceed. Shaw thereupon decided to wait two or 
three days longer, and then, if no permission came, 
to send off another messenger to the King. The 
approach of Haj'ward, which was already reported 
to the native authorities, gave him great uneasiness, 
as the appearance of another Englishman at this 
critical stage of the negotiations might easily arouse 
their suspicions. On the 18tli Shaw writes : 

" Toward evening the Mihmandar came and sat 
down by u\j fire. After other conversation, 1 intro- 
duced the subject of ray business with the King ; 
for on reflection it struck me that, if I waited till 
orders came for me to stay at Shahidoolla before I 
announced this, it would be thought that my object 
-was thereby to escape from detention on the fron- 
tier. As soon as the Mihmandar understood what 
I said, he at once promised to send off a man in the 
morning, who should go direct to the King with the 
news. I trust that I have been wise in taking this 
step. 

" I had further conversations with Jooma. To- 
day, at his suggestion, I have assumed the full Mo- 
ghul dress — high black riding-boots, an inner tunic of 
cotton-silk (given me by the Afghan tea-merchants 
at Ladak), a long scarf round the waist ; over this I 
wear a light-brown cloth robe, open and loose, while 



DETENTION AT THE FMONTIBR 135 

one of the red Cashmere shawls comes in splendidly 
for a turban. I flatter myself that I look like a dig- 
nified Toork ; my appearance produces an evident 
eifect on the Mihmandar ; he is several pegs hum- 
bler in manner to-day. 

" Jooma says the King is in the habit of going 
about quite alone, a la Haroon-al-Rasheed. He has 
several times been taken up as a vagabond by his 
own police. On these occasions, he tries the probity 
of his capturer by offering a bribe for release. 
Those who accept the bribe are seized and bronght 
before him next morning, when the least punishment 
they suffer is a severe scourging. On the contrary, 
those who have resisted the temptation are honored 
and promoted." 

The very next day news came that Hayward's 
approach had been announced, and that he had de- 
clared himself to be engaged in Shaw's service. 
The Mihmandar, whose suspicions were immediately 
aroused, was about to send off an ofiicer to recall the 
messenger whom he had despatched the day before ; 
but the man Jooma declared that Shaw had nothing 
whatever to do witli the other Englishman, beyond 
meeting him on a shooting excursion. Afterward 
the Mihmandar went to Shaw's tent, whereupon the 
latter made the same statement to him, and he ap- 
peared to be satisfied. The same afternoon eight 
horse-loads of provisions arrived from Yarkand, 
with fifteen sheep. 

Two days after this Hay ward arrived, and the 
Mihmandar, whose business was to visit and question 
him, came to Shaw to procure an interpreter. Shaw 



136 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

gave him the man Jooma, upon whose tact and fidel- 
ity he believed he could rely, and the result proved 
the wisdom of his choice. The same evening the 
latter sent a note to Hay ward privately through 
Jooma, explaining his situation, and urging him to 
give up the design of going on to Yarkand. The 
predicament was very embarrassing ; but Shaw 
clearly had tlie start of Hayward in all the arrange- 
ments which he had made in advance, and could not 
allow his dearly-bought chances to be imperilled. 

On the 21st good news arrived. The last messen- 
ger sent toward Yarkand returned, bringing a letter 
from the King, which he met at the foot of the San- 
joo Pass. It directed the Mihmandar to pay every 
attention to Shaw, as he valued his head, until the 
arrival of the brother of the Governor of Yarkand, 
who was coming to escoi't the traveller into the coun- 
try. 

By November 24th Shaw began to be exceedingly 
weary of waiting. In his journal of that day he 
says : "I called in the Mihmandar, and said I could 
not stand it any longer, but should go off shooting, 
or else march down to the nearest Kirghiz encamp- 
ment. He tried to pacify me, and finally agreed 
that, if no news of the Governor's brother arrived 
during the next two days, we would begin marching 
northward on the third. He came back again shortly, 
with a peace-offering of fruit. While we were dis- 
cussing it, an arrival was announced. He rushed out, 
and presently came back again crying, 'Moobarak! 
Moorbarak ! ' ' Good news has come ! You are to 
start to-morrow to meet the great Mihmandar, who 



DETENTION AT THE FRONTIER 137 

has brought his camp as far as the Saiijoo Pass ! ' ■^"■ 
Immediately all was bustle and preparation. All the 
servants are as pleased as myself at leaving this dull 
spot, and starting again for the goal of our journey." 

* " The letter wliicli Jooma brought from my secretary is dated 
November 9th. The first news of my approach had reached 
Yarkand two days before, and my first Mihmander was sent off 
at once. Jooma started on the 9th. Thus news of my approach 
reached Yarkand on the 7th. If it was not a mere f oundationless 
report, they must have had spies out as far as the head of the Kara- 
kash, or farther ; for I myself did not reach the Kirghiz camp 
till the 7th, the very day that news of me reached Yarkand. 

"I afterward ascertained the following facts. When the first 
hint of my intention of coming reached Yarkand, a party of 
soldiers was sent to SliahidooUa to stop me. When I got nearer, 
the Mihmandar was sent for the same purpose, although he 
amused me with promises of being allowed to proceed. Thirdly, 
Jooma was sent with a lot of provisions and the secretary's letter 
(in which, as it appeared afterward, I was told to go back to 
Ladak). Jooma was to conduct me back, and the provisions were 
sent, lest I should make the want of them an excuse for not re- 
turning. It was hoped that I should be tired of waiting, and go 
back of my own accord. Hence Jooma's hints that I might per- 
haps be kept at Shahidoolla for two or three months. 

" Lastly, when my secretary had produced my letter and pres- 
ents, the Yoozbashee was sent to meet me ; but he delayed so 
long that it was evident they would have been very glad had I 
taken their first hint and gone back. 

"From this I conclude that, had an Englishman presented 
himself on their border without an explanation and without pre- 
vious arrangement, he would have been simply turned back ; as, 
in fact, I was at the first." 



10 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE MARCH TO YARKAND 

THE permission to advance having arrived, and so 
much more promptly than might have been 
anticipated, Shaw set out from Shahidoolla in high 
spirits. " On November 25th," he says, " we made a 
long march down the Karakash. We saw the en- 
trance of two valleys leading to passes over into 
Turkistan, the second being that of Kilian, which is 
the summer route of the merchants. 

'' A third valley or rather gorge, in the north side, 
was, late in the afternoon, pointed out to me as lead- 
ing to the Sanjoo Pass. On reaching it, we imme- 
diately discovered a group of Kirghiz ' akooees,' or 
felt tents, snugly pitched in a sheltered nook. In 
the main valley, a few hundred yards lower down, 
were several fields of stubble, the barley having 
lately been reaped. This was a charming sight to 
eyes accustomed to deserts for so long a time. I was 
led into one of the ' akooees,' and seated in front of 
the central fire. Presently, two Kirghiz women 
came in and began preparing tea for ns, which I and 
my Mihmandar drank out of wooden bowls, adding 
some Yarkandee biscuits out of his saddle-bags. 
Meanwhile a larger ' akooee ' was being prepared for 
me, into which I w^as ushei-ed. Now, for the first 



THE MARCH TO Y ARK AND 



139 



time, I had leisure to examine the structure of these 
singular tents. You remember those toys made by a 
kind of trelliswork, which lengthen when open and 
shorten up when shut. A line of these (with meshes 
nearly a foot wide) are half- opened, and set up on 
edge in a circle. They compose the side walls of the 
tent, some four feet high. To the upper edge of 




Framework of Tent. 



these, and at intervals of a foot, a set of curved rods 
are tied. These have a bend some two feet from the 
lower end, so that they all convei'ge inward, toward 
the centre, forming the skeleton of a low dome. But 
they do not meet, for their inner ends are fixed into 
holes in a large hoop (some three feet across), thus 
leaving a large opening in the middle of tlie roof. 
The hoop is supported by these rods at a height of 
ten or twelve feet from tlie ground. A lot of large 
sheets of felt, cut so as to lit over the different parts 
of the framework, and sewn round the edges with a 



140 



TBAVEL8 IN CENTRAL ASIA 



cord, are tightly stretched over the whole, and fas- 
tened with ropes, leaving only the openmg in the 
middle of the roof for the smoke to escape. The 
framework of a door is placed in an opening of the 
side-walls, and a felt cnrtain hangs before it. 

"■ Yon cannot conceive a more comfortable dwell- 
Tiie satisfaction of seeing the smoke go straight 



mg. 




Tent, as Completed. 



up and away is inexpressible, after the horrors of a 
fire in front of one's tent, which, pitch it how you 
will, is always full of smoke. The Kirghiz have all 
the comforts of a house in these movable dwellings. 
The furniture forms a yak-load, while the ' akooee ' 
itself is carried by two more. Felt carpeting covers 
the ground, while around are piled bedding for the 
inmates, wooden vessels of all sorts, large copper 
caldrons, sacks of flour, saddles, and saddle-cloths. 
From the framework hang large bags of embroidered 



THE MARCH TO TABKAND 141 

leather, in which are placed the smaller household 
goods, also matchlocks and swords. At night, when 
the fire goes out, a sheet of felt is drawn over the 
opening in the roof, and the snngness is inconceiva- 
ble ; while nothing could exceed its cleanliness and 
neatness."^ 

" Such was the dwelling in which I was now es- 
tablislied. Under a cloth I discovered several joints 
of meat, with a look of strange flesh about them. 
On inquiry, I found they were horseflesh, thus giving 
me, at my first approach, a sample of the habits of 
the country. Seated on the felt carpet, I enjoyed a 
comfortable dinner, and w^ent to bed, for the first 
time, in a Kirghiz ' akooee.' 

"The next morning our road lay up a narrow 
winding gorge, northward, with tremendous vertical 
cliffs on either hand. Dead horses were passed at 
every few hundred yards, marking the difiiculties of 
the route. We took up our abode in a kind of cave, 
so as to save the delay of striking the tents in the 
morning. On the following day we started for the 
pass into Turkistan. The gorge gradually became 
steeper and steeper, and dead horses more frequent. 
The stream was hard frozen into a torrent of white 
ice. The distant mountains began to show behind 
us, peeping over the shoulders of the nearer ones. 
Finally our gorge vanished, and we were scrambling 

* Marco Polo (Yule's " Marco Polo," i. , 220) says: "The Tartars' 
huts or tents are formed of rods covered with felt, and, being ex- 
actly round and nicely put together, they can gather them into 
one bundle and make them up as packages, which they carry 
along with them in their migrations.'' 



142 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

lip the open shingly side of the mountain, toward the 
ridge. 

" The pass is very little lower than the rest of the 
narrow ridge which tops the range. The first sight, 
on cresting the ' col/ w^as a chaos of lower mountains, 
while far away to the north the eye at last rested on 
what it sought, a level horizon indistinctly bounding 
what looked like a distant sea. This was the plain 
of Eastern Turkistan, and that blue haze concealed 
cities and provinces, which, first of all my country- 
men, I was about to visit. A step farther showed a 
steep descent down a snow-slope, into a large basin 
surrounded by glaciers on three sides. This basin 
was occupied by undulating downs, covered with 
grass (a most welcome sight), and occupied by herds 
of yaks. 

" We here rested, lit a fire, and boiled water to 
ascertain the height of the pass. A lot of yaks were 
crossing the ridge under the charge of several Kirg- 
hiz, who had been sent for to help my luggage across. 
We waited three-quarters of an hour, but as the Mih- 
mandar did not appear, I began to descend. The 
path was a zig-zag. through the snow, which had been 
trodden into most slippery ice. My pony, having 
arrived, was taken down by two men, one of whom 
supported him by the tail, while the other led him. 
More than one horse had recently lost his footing 
here, and rolled down the slope, and we saw the 
crows having a feast off the carcasses on the snow 
at the bottom. After a few hundred feet the snow 
ceased, but the descent continued steep for a couple 
of miles of zigzags. Then we landed on the upper- 



THE MARCH TO YARKAND 143 

most grassy clowns, where presently we found a party 
of Moghuls waiting to welcome me. Each of them 
came forward and took my hand between both of 
his, with which he afterward stroked his beard. 
They assisted me to dismount, and conducted me to 
where several sheets of felt were spread on the 
ground. While tea was being made, they advanced 
in procession ; the first man spread a cloth on the 
ground before me, and each of the others deposited 
liis tray of fruit on it. Our eyes were gladdened by 
the sight of rosy apples and pears, besides other 
fruit which we had seen before. Our hosts then in- 
formed us that they were . the servants of the Yooz- 
bashee '^ (the Yizier's brother), sent to welcome me 
at the foot of the pass, and that their master's camp 
was in the valley not far down, to which they were 
instructed to bring us on at once. 

*'0n Saturday, the 28th, after breakfasting, we 
continued our march, fording the stream several 
times. All the servants were provided with horses 
or yaks to ride, and when w^e passed several of my 
Ladakees on foot, my Mihmandar made some of the 
Kirghiz followers dismount and give their yaks to 
my men. About five miles after starting, as we 
mounted the steep bank of the stream which we had 
just crossed, a group of liorsemen met us on the top. 
The foremost advanced, and took my hand in both 
of his, holding it while he asked me several questions 
in a cordial tone of voice, which I needed no inter- 
preter to tell me were inquiries after my welfare. 

* Derived from " yooz," a hundred^ and '* bash.ee," an officer^ 
(Toorkee), and therefore ineaning a "centurion." 



144 TRAVELS 11^ CENTRAL ASIA 

He then turned his horse, and motioning politely to 
me to ride bj his side, we continued our journey. 
One of his followers started off at a wild gallop in 
front of us, discharging his matchlock, and afterward 
whirling it round his head with a loud whoop. This 
I found was a salute intended to do me honor. 

"I had now leisure to examine the appearance of 
the Yoozbashee. He was a young man of apparently 
little more than thirty years, with a bright, intelligent 
face and energetic manners. His head-dress was a 
green turban. A sober-colored outer robe covered 
the richer clothes beneath, and was fastened round 
the waist by two separate blue belts ornamented with 
numerous silver clasps and bars. To these belts were 
attached a silver-hilted sabre, much curved, and a 
series of nondescript articles, including pouches of 
embroidered leather, a priming-flask of peculiar 
shape, etc. The ends of a pair of ver}^ wide trousers 
of soft yellow leather covered with embroider}^ w^ere 
just visible below his robe, and his feet were enclosed 
in boots, or rather high moccasins, of the same, with 
a row of silver nail-heads round the soles. He rode 
a small but handsome gray with an almost Arab look 
about the head, but a heavier neck, and his seat on 
horseback was perfection. 

" We rode about a mile, and then reached a little 
flat covered with small trees. Here w^as an encamp- 
ment of Kirghiz, together with the followers of the 
Yoozbashee and their horses. I was taken into a 
Kirghiz akooee that had been prepared for me, and 
led to the place of honor, viz., a carpet spread over 
the sheets of felt directly opposite the door ; this car- 



THE MARCH TO YABKAND 145 

pet I was left to occupy alone in my glory, while the 
Yoozbashee seated himself on the side carpet to my 
right, with my foi'mer Mihmandar below him ; two 
of his principal attendants were seated near the door, 
outside which the remainder, armed w^ith match- 
locks, were drawn up as a guard of honor. ]^ow I 
must explain to you the Toorkish manner of sitting 
on state occasions ; it is a mode of torture unknown 
to Western nations, J^atives of India, as a rule, 
squat down with their feet still on the ground, and 
their knees just below their chins. Others cross 
their legs in front of them, and sit like a tailor. 
But in Toorkistan the ceremonious manner is to 
kneel down with your robes well tucked in, and 
then sit back onto your heels. When your toes 
are by these means nearly dislocated, you have the 
option of turning them inward, and sitting on the 
inside flat of the feet. By this means the disloca- 
tion is transferred from your toes to your ankles 
and knees. 

^'The sword is a further source of difficulty. If, 
when first kneeling down, you forget to keep the 
point in front of you, so as to lay it across your 
knees, you can never bring it round afterwai'd, and it 
remains fixed behind you, hitching up the left side of 
your belt in the most uncomfortable manner, and 
forming a stumbling-block to all the attendants who . 
bring tea, etc. I must tell you that swords are here 
worn in a frog, like a French policeman's, and not 
loosely attached by straps, like those of English offi- 
cers. After thus seating yourself, you spread out 
both arms, and then bring your hands to your face, 



146 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

solemnly stroking your beard (if you have one), and 
saying, ' Allah-o-Akabar ' — 'God is great.' 

" Thus seated, a conversation was carried on 
through Jooma as interpreter. The Yoozbashee 
then took his leave, after giving me a short note 
from his Majesty, giving me a military salute which 
I fancy they must have taken from the Russians, as 
it is in continental style. Immediately afterward the 
procession appeared, headed by my former Mihman- 
dar, whom I now learned to call the Pan j abash ee 
(which is his real title, meaning 'captain of fifty'). 
They laid before me a cloth, and covered it with 
trays of fruit of all sorts, eggs, sugar, bread, etc. 
This I found was a regular institution ; it is called a 
' dastar-khan,' and during the remainder of my jour- 
ney the ceremony took place every morning and 
evening on the part of the Yoozbashee; besides 
which dastar-khans w^ere presented by other officials. 
I generally ate one or two of the fruit, and offered 
some to the person who was in charge ; for the giver 
did not himself accompany it as a rule, but sent his 
highest subordinate. Presently a sheep was brought 
to the door, and a cold fowl on a dish. From that 
day to this a fresh sheep has appeared dail}^ at my 
door, and though all my servants are feasted on mut- 
ton, and I constantly give away whole sheep, yet my 
iiock keeps on increasing. 

" Up to this time my Ladakee yak-drivers had 
been brought along with us. Their yaks and ponies 
had been left beyond the pass, and they had them- 
selves petitioned to be discharged there. I was ready 
to do so, but the Panjabashee had considered it nee- 



THE MARCH TO YARKAND 147 

essary to bring them with ns, nominally in order that 
they might not be dismissed without presents, but in 
reality I imagine it was feared they might cany 
away letters from me. Heaven knows I had but lit- 
tle news to give ! 

" Arrived at tlie Yoozbashee's camp, the Ladakees 
made another desperate effort to obtain release. 
They importuned with such success that at last it was 
decided they might go. 

" Later in the afternoon I paid a visit of ceremony 
to the Yoozbashee in his own akooee, attended by 
my two Giiddee servants (arrayed in the gorgeous 
cotton -silk khilats sent by the Moonshee from Yar- 
kand), and preceded by the Panjabashee. I went to 
his door. He put me on the carpet of honor, and 
ordered in a dastar - khan and tea. He had now 
taken off his enter robe, and was dressed in a Yar- 
kand silk ' khilat,' loose and shining ; beneath it a 
' kamsole,' or inner robe of English printed muslin 
fastened by a scarf round the waist. On his head, 
instead of a turban, was a tall cap of dark-green vel- 
vet turned up with a fur lining. I am always look- 
ing out for something Scythian in Toorkistan ; for it 
is pretty well agreed, I believe, that the Asiatic Scy- 
thians, at any rate, were the progenitors of the mod- 
ern Tartars, under which very vague title the Toor- 
kees are certainly included. Sir H. Kawlinson in- 
deed thinks that the ancient Sakae or ' Amj^gian 
Scythians' of Herodotus inhabited Yarkand and 
Kashgar. Now their characteristic dress was a tall 
pointed cap and trousers. Here I saw them before 
me on the first Toork of rank that I had met ! The 



148 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

head-dress is probably peculiar to Central Asia. 
Opposite the Yoozbashee were seated his moolah or 
scribe, who knows one or two words of Persian, and 
reads and writes all letters for his master. Also the 
'' Alam ' of Sanjoo, who is the chief minister of re- 
ligion, and as such wears a peculiar round cap with 
fur border, over which is neatly tied a large white 
turban of peculiar shape. 

" After breakfast the next morning, the men of 
Ladak having been sent off, we started on our ride 
down the mountain gorge, a horseman galloping off 
frantically in front of us to fire the usual running 
salute. Constantly fording the stream through 
sheets of ice, and raising clouds of dust as we rode 
along the barren sides, we got through two days' 
march. I was disappointed in my expectation of 
finding the hill-sides clothed with forests or verdure 
as we reached a lower level. A few small deciduous 
trees, and a little grass on the banks of the stream, 
was all that broke the barrenness of the sandy val- 
ley. The mountain-sides were covered with a coat 
of light soil, through which the rocks cropped out. 
On such precipitous faces a few heavy showers of 
rain would have washed it all away ; it would thus 
appear that heavy rain is unknown here, or even 
much snow. 

"The interpreter was in constant requisition, as 
the Yoozbashee was very friendly and communica- 
tive. Among other questions, he asked how it was 
that Shaw Sahib was not hlacTc, as he lived in Ilin- 
dostan ? I explained that the real home of the Eng- 
lish was in a cold climate, and that I was now de- 



THE MARGE TO YARKAND 149 

liglited at reaching a country where the people re- 
sembled my own countrymen in color, after the dark 
faces of India ; for he and his party had about the 
complexion of a well-bronzed Englishman, and were 
no darker than myself, in fact, at that moment. 

" Toward afternoon of the second day, the valley 
began to widen, and the hilly sides to become lower. 
Numberless red-legged partridges were calling all 
around. I was made to load my gun, but told to 
come along on horseback. Instead of allowing me to 
walk up to the birds, no sooner was a covey seen 
than our whole cavalcade scattered wildly in chase. 
Some of the party even crossed the stream after 
them, yelling with excitement. I and my Guddee 
servants roared with laughter at seeing these people 
galloping after the partridges, as if they wished to 
put salt on their tails instead of shooting them, or 
letting me do so. I watched my opportunity, and 
when they were out of the way, I dismounted and 
went after a covey which I heard in another direc- 
tion. Returning with a bird I had shot, I was met 
by the Yoozbashee holding ^yq live ones in his hand, 
and shouting for Shaw Sahib to come and look. I 
was astounded, but soon discovered that this appar- 
ently childish amusement of galloping after par- 
tridges was really a most effectual way of catching 
them. Several were afterward caught in my sight. 
The birds fly from one side of the valley to the other. 
If put up again immediately, they soon get tired, 
and after two or three flights begin running on the 
ground. Then the men gallop up, and strike at 
them with their whips. It is a most exciting amuse- 



150 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

ment over rough country. I had heard of quails be- 
ing caught ill this way when tired by a long flight 
during their annual migrations, but did not imagine 
a partridge could be taken so. 

" When the partridges ceased, my companions be- 
gan skylarking among themselves, displaying the 
most perfect horsemanship in so doing. The two 
clerical gentlemen chiefly distinguished themselves, 
viz., Moollah Shereef, and the Alam of Sanjoo, who 
pulled off his outer robe for greater freedom. They 
caught one another round the waist, each trying to 
dislodge the otlier from his saddle, and wrestled on 
horseback ; meanwhile their horses were leaping 
ditches and banks, and going headlong over the 
roughest ground. Finally, each remained in posses- 
sion of his adversary's turban. The Yoozbashee en- 
couraged them in all their antics, occasionally' start- 
ing forward at full gallop with a shout and a laugh, 
to the great discomposure of my Guddee servants' 
seats, and of my turban (which I had not yet learned 
to tie firmly). While amusing ourselves thus, we 
reached the first cultivation. The valley was no dif- 
ferent from before, but we crossed several fields of 
fallow ground, and several dry irrigation channels; 
while on the other side of the stream there was a 
clump of leafless trees, and two or three mud-built 
houses with flat roofs. Presently a flock of sheep 
appeared, and then a lot of donkeys grazing. I 
hailed all these signs of inhabited lands with delight, 
to the great amusement of the Yoozbashee, who, 
however, seemed quite to understand what the pleas- 
ure must be of leaving behind us the deserts where 



THE MAROB TO TABKAND 161 

we had been so long. He called my attention to 
each fresh object that presented itself, saying with a 
stnile : ' Here, Shaw Sahib, here is a tree, and there 
is a heap of straw earthed over to keep for the cat- 
tle ; and look, there are cocks and hens, and a peas- 
ant's house ! ' 

" The hills had by this time smik into long low 
ridges a few hundred feet high, still chiefly sand 
slopes with a few rocks cropping out. The name 
of the first cultivated ground was Kewas, but the 
houses were few and much scattered. In fact I 
could distingnish no separation of villages, although 
different names were given me by the way. From 
the first hamlet, a succession of habitations appeared ; 
at first very far apart, and then getting more and 
more numerous as we proceeded. At last we halted 
at a little farm-house. The Yoozbashee dismounted, 
and led me into a little court-yard surrounded by 
mud walls, and thence into a room opening into it. 
It was empty, the people being employed somewhere 
near, but we took possession. After sitting down 
with me, and saying ' Allahoakber,' he huri'ied off 
with a smile and a wave of the hand, to find lodgings 
for himself. The other principal room of the house, 
on the other side, was taken for this purpose, while 
the remainder of our followers pitched tents outside. 
My cooking-fire was lit in the court-yard. 

"A cat appeared and made great friends with me, 
taking me quite under its protection, purring and sit- 
ting down by my side opposite the fire. I accepted 
this as a happy omen on first entering a strange land. 
1 really felt the company of this friendly cat quite a 



152 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

comfort; it seemed at once to make one at home. 
We afterward found that cats were a favored race in 
Toorkistan — not the scared, half-starved things that 
disappear round corners in Indian houses, but sleek, 
well-fed creatures which know how to purr, and scorn 
to steal. While I write, there are four of them lying 
in all positions on the rug in front of mj fire ! 

" The owner of the house, and his family, had a 
glorious feast, for I gave them the greater part of 
my dastar-khan, consisting of a dozen or more large 
sheets of bread (I measured some two feet in diame- 
ter ! they are delicious, being made of Yarkand flour ; 
as light as French rolls, though made without leaven), 
and of fruit of all sorts. In the morning w^e rode 
about three miles, the cultivation being continuous, 
and the houses more and more numerous, w^iile the 
hedgerows were planted with poplars, apple and pear 
trees, all leafless now. We now saw, on ahead, a 
small body of horsemen drawn up by the side of the 
way, and their leader dressed in black, and sitting on 
a splendid black horse. The Yoozbashee told me 
this was the ' Beg,' or Governor, of Sanjoo come out 
to meet me, and conduct me in, and asked whether I 
would get off, or salute him on horseback. I said, ' I 
will go entirely by your advice in these matters ; for 
you know the respective ranks of the different of- 
ficers whom I shall meet, and to whom the various 
marks of respect are due.' He said, ' Then do as I 
do.' When within twenty yards, he pulled up and 
dismounted, the Beg riding forward and doing the 
same. They ran forward to meet one another and 
embraced, each putting his chin on the other's right 



THE MARCH TO T ARK AND 153 

shoulder, and liis arms round his body. Then the 
Beg turned to me, the Yoozbashee introducing me by 
name, and we clasped both hands, finishing by strok- 
ing the beard, and saying * Allah-o-Akabar.' After 
remounting, the Yoozbashee told me that his friend 
the Beg had just lost a wife, which was the reason of 
his being all in black upon a black horse. I told 
him this was also the color we used in mourning. 

'' By this time we reached a fine clump of tall 
poplars, with a little square, and a mosque (which 
was merely a room open at the front, where a row of 
wooden pillars took the place of a wall). A street 
opened into the little square, but consisted merely of 
two opposite mud walls, with a door in them every 
thirty yards. Entering one of these doors on the 
right, we passed through one clean-looking court- 
yard into a second ; then up four or five steps across 
a wide veranda into a room, well carpeted, and with 
a bright fire. Here, after complimentary speeches 
and inquiries, the Beg and the Yoozbashee left me. 

The people here, as elsewhere in Eastern Toorkis- 
tan, seem very well-to-do. No rags or appearance of 
poverty anywhere. Every member of the crowd 
that gathered round our party as we arrived and 
started, was dressed in several good thick robes reach- 
ing below the knee, with high leather boots, and a 
cap turned up all round, showing a handsome fur 
lining. The women did not appear much, but I saw 
one or two in long robes, not fastened in at the waist 
and reaching to the ankle, boots like the men, and a 
similar fur cap on the top of a white handkerchief 

which covered the ears and back of the head and 
11 



154: TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

neck. I noticed that they examined me qnite freely, 
looking over the tops of their gates, but the moment 
the Yoozbashee appeared they immediately hid. I 
find that, as a rule, in this country the women go 
about openly unveiled, but whenever a religious mag- 
istrate is seen coming, they either run away or draw 
down an open-work veil over their faces. 

" The Yoozbashee showed me the horses which he 
had left at Sanjoo. Toorkee horses are taken im- 
mense care of and well groomed, but their treatment 
differs from ours in some particulars. The saddles 
are never taken off night or day, but covered over 
with horse-clothing, which extends to the neck and 
head. They are walked about for a greater part of 
the time that they are not on the road, sometimes 
for four or five hours after coming in. Even the 
common horses are tied up, and not allowed to feed 
indisci'iminately. They get plenty of corn (barley or 
Indian corn), and but little grass. This makes them 
very fit for long journeys. The saddles are of paint- 
ed and polished wood, with a very high peak in front, 
and are well raised from the back-bone. Their trap- 
pings are very rich, with embroidered clotlis and sil- 
ver mountings. The Yoozbashee said, ' You must 
take your choice of one out of these three horses of 
mine, with all his belongings.' I pretended to be 
shocked at the idea, and said ' No.' He laughed, and 
we parted. This offer he repeated once more before 
we I'eached Yarkand, but I again politely refused ; 
and learned afterward that I had done quite right, as 
it would not have been the thing for me to accept a 
present from anyone but the Vizier or the King. 



4 



THE MARCH TO TARE AND 155 

" It would only tire the reader if I were to trace 
the remainder of my journey, step by step, as I have 
done hitherto. I need only describe the general feat- 
ures of the country, and our manner of travelling. 
As for the former, on leaving the fertile valley of 
Sanjoo we ascended the sandy cliff to our north, 
several hundred feet, and then came into an immense 
undulating plain of sand, scantily spotted with small 
and scraggy bushes. This plain sloped down from 
the foot of the mountains to our left (south), and we 
could see in the distance to our right that it was cut 
up into ravines at its descent into the level plains. 
^ov four days we rode westward along this desert, 
which was broken in four places at unequal distances 
by streams coming down from the mountains and fer- 
tilizing the land on either side of them. These fer- 
tile strips, sunk below the surface of the neighboring 
desert, form oases covered with villages and highly 
cultivated. Thus we always had a village to rest in 
at night, though our day's journey was entirely over 
barren sand. 

" At intervals, tall poles with sign-boards marked 
the distances along the road, the measurement being 
by the ' tash,' equalling nearly five of our miles, I 
reckoned. 

" The villages, with their surrounding orchards and 
crowds of noisy fowl, reminded me of home, but 
lacked the high gables and numerous doors and win- 
dows of the English farm-house. Instead of this, 
blank walls surrounding court-yards, and low build- 
ings with no visible roof, put one in mind of a man 
both bald and blind. There are no hedges, but the 



156 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

number of trees both round tlie houses and along the 
water-courses prevent the country from having tlie 
bare appearance of some of tlie French provinces. 

" iJTumberless little hamlets of two or three houses 
in a group are scattered over the whole face of it, and 
bear witness to the long existence of a settled govern- 
ment and security to the inhabitants, so different 
from the Punjab, where former misrule and anarchy 
have accustomed the people to crowd all their houses 
together for safety, till a village resembles a huge 
ant-hill with many exits. Irrigation seems to be 
carried to a great extent ; in fact all cultivation de- 
pends on it, as there is little rain.* The water- 
courses run in all directions, being carried over and 
under one another at the road, and by small aque- 
ducts over marshes and hollows. The falls and 
sluices are utilized in driving stamping-mills for 
husking the rice, and in the manufacture of gun- 
powder, pounding the saltpetre, etc. These are 
driven by a wheel with a single cog, a pair of pestles 
rising and falling alternately, like long slender ham- 
mers. We passed through Kargalik and two other 
towns, one smallei' and one larger than it. They are 
much like Indian towns, except that the streets of the 
bazaar are covered over for the sake of shade — a pre- 
caution not much wanted at this time of year, when 
all the pools and tanks are hard fi-ozen. The gi*eat 

* In the travels of Hwui Seng, the Chinese pilgrim, a.d. 519, 
it is written : "The people of this region use the water of the 
rivers for irrigating the fields ; and when they were told that in 
the middle country (China) the fields were watered by the rain, 
they laughed and said, ' How could Heaven provide enough for 
all?'" 



THE MARCH TO TARKAND 157 

difference from the appearance of Indian towns is in 
the greater look of well-being in the inhabitants. 
Their clothes are all so good and substantial, and 
thej are indebted to the tailor for the whole of their 
garments, ignoring that untidy Indian custom of 
throwing loose sheets over their bodies! There is 
an absence of the coolie class too, with its blank stare 
of utter stupidity ; here every one looks respectable, 
brisk, and intelligent. The townspeople all gather 
in rows on either hand, and bow low to the King's 
guest with both hands crossed on their breasts. This 
is their mode of salutation. Women bow with their 
arms hanging down instead. The ^as-salaam alei- 
koom ' is for my conductor, the Yoozbashee, a t7'ue he- 
liever, who replies with a constantly repeated ' o alei- 
koom as-salaam.' 

" At Kargalik one of the features of the place was 
rather startling, viz., a gallows standing by the side 
of the principal street at the entrance of the town. 
It was unoccupied at the time, but seemed well worn. 

" At one of these places I was shown a newly- 
caught black eagle of the sort called ' Birkoot,' which 
are trained to catch antelope and deer, as falcons do 
birds. The unfortunate creature was hooded, and 
wrapped up, wings, talons and all, in a sheep-skin, 
and this bundle was suspended (head downward) 
from the man's saddle during the march. They con- 
sider this treatment has a tendency to tame the bird ! * 

♦ Marco Polo (Yule's Marco Polo, i. 343, and note at p. 355) 
says : " His Majesty lias eagles also which are trained to stoop at 
wolves, and such is their size and strength that none, however 
large, can escape from their talons." 



158 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

" But I liave not yet given an account of the man- 
ner of our journeying, and of the treatment bestowed 
on me. They gave me a capital horse to ride, as 
they did also to all my servants. A couple of 
troopers were put in charge of my baggage, which 
followed us well. The Yoozbashee had about a 
dozen attendants with him ; besides which two or 
three of his men were always on the road either to 
or from Yarkand, carrying reports of our progress, 
and rejoining our party in an incredibly short time, 
dressed in new robes, and bringing complimentary 
messages from the Shaghawal to the Mihman (my- 
self). What they can have found to report I cannot 
imagine ; but it was evident they still had great mis- 
givings about the coming of an Englishman, though 
they outwardly veiled them under the show of the 
greatest politeness. As for the Yoozbashee, he was 
the most cordial and agreeable of companions. As 
full of fun as a schoolboy home for the holidays, he 
kept the whole party alive and merry. At one mo- 
ment he was talking to me in a kind of lingua franca, 
chiefly Toorkee, with a few words of Persian, to 
which I responded with the languages in the inverse 
ratio. Our alternate mistakes were of course a great 
fund of amusement, in which the whole party joined. 
When, as sometimes happened, we managed to un- 
derstand one another, he would poke me in the ribs, 
or pretend to pull me off the horse, laughing heartily. 
When I mentioned to him anything that struck his 
fancy, for instance any of the arts and contrivances 
of civilization, he would hold up his finger at me, 
shaking his head with a smile, and saying, 'Ah, 



THE MARCH TO YABKAND 159 

Shaw Sahib,' in a voice that implied, ' You " Frangs " 
are certainly leagued with '' Shaitan." ' 

" The next minute he would begin an Andijanee 
song, flourishing his whip about, and suddenly bring- 
ing it down on the shoulders of some unconscious 
attendant. One day, sitting witli me at our abode 
for the night, he saw my warm gloves, and put them 
on. A confidential servant was passing the door ; he 
called him in, and, pretending he had something to 
whisper to him, brought him close up. Then he 
gave him five or six hearty cuffs on the face with my 
gloves, as gravely as possible. The man looked quite 
scared, and I thought he must have committed some 
fault, when suddenly the Yoozbashee burst out laugh- 
ing, and showed him his two hands with the gloves 
on. The man took the joke, and, following the 
Scripture precept, presented his other cheek to the 
smiter, who immediately took advantage of the offer. 
Once we had stopped at a road-side mosque for the 
purpose of saying afternoon prayers. He and his 
party having finished, came running out like a lot of 
boys when school is over. Three women, who were 
coming along the road, seeing the crowd, turned 
aside into a field. Upon which my friend stood still, 
and cried, ' Khanem, khanem,' which means, ' lady.' 
At last they were obliged to answer, when the Yooz- 
bashee, with the greatest mock politeness, began a 
long speech to them about the happiness of meeting 
them, his having come expressly for the purpose, and 
brought the Mihman with him, and regretting he 
had not time for any further conversation. The 
women, meanwhile, half-amused and half-shy at so 



160 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

many people, stood with their heads turned away. 
My friend finished with a low and ceremonious bow, 
and a solemn salaam, and then turned to see whether 
I was amused at the joke, joining himself in the 
laughter. 

" At every village we were welcomed by officers of 
the district to which it belonged, and conducted to 
rooms prepared for us, as at Sanjoo. About thi'ee 
miles from Ivargalik, the Beg of that town met iis, 
and after dismounting and saluting him, I was led to 
a carpet spread under some trees, and seated in the 
place of honor, while all our attendants sat down on 
other caipets at a distance. Dastar-khans were then 
brought, consisting of basins of soup, pilao in huge 
bowls, big sheets of bread, and numberless dishes of 
fruit. After we had all eaten in our several places, 
the Yoozbashee requested me to sit still while the 
whole party spread their outer coats in front of me, 
and recited their afternoon prayers. We afterward 
resumed our journey through horrible clouds of dust 
caused by our augmented cavalcade. By my side 
rode a Bokhara hajjee, who wdth a companion had 
ridden out to meet us about half a day's march. He 
had travelled through India, Arabia, and even Koom 
(Turkey). 

" Crossing an arm of the great Takla-Makan Des- 
ert, we saw two ' keek,' a small antelope which fre- 
quents it. They have peculiar lyre-shaped horns of 
which I brought home a specimen, The Yoozba- 
shee says they go in large herds, as do also wild cam- 
els i^.) in the great desert eastward. This desert is 
connected with wonderful superstitions. They say 



THE MARCH TO TABKAND 161 

there once dwelt a lieatlien nation there, to whom 
went Jalla-ooddeen preaching Islam. They agreed 
to become Mussulmans if the saint could turn all 
their dwellings into gold. A few prayers and the 
thing was done. But now these infidels turned 
round on him and said, ' Old man, we have all we 
want; why should we be Mussulmans ? ' The holy 
man turned away, but, as he left them, the sand rose 
and overwhelmed them and their possessions. Many 
a search has been made for these treasures, but some 
magic delusion always destroys those who wander in 
this desert. I told the Yoozbashee the story which 
Herodotus relates of the" gold-digging ants in this 
very place. 

"At each town the Governor or Beg rode out 
with his retinue three or four miles to meet me, 
bringing a ' dastar-khan,' or dinner, which was pre- 
pared for tlie whole party (nearly twenty in number). 
Bowls of soup, huge platters of pilao, roast fowls by 
the dozen, fruit, bread, etc., were put before us, and 
afterward I was escorted into the town, riding be- 
tween the Beg and the Yoozbashee. The chief mer- 
chants met us outside the gates, while the people of 
the town were ranged in rows along the streets. 

" After conducting me to my lodging for the night 
in the Governor's house, and sitting a short time 
with me, the Beg would take his leave, but would 
come again in the morning to escort me out of the 
town. After parting with him at the gates, and rid- 
ing a couple of hours, we always found another 
' dastar-khan ' awaiting us under some grove of trees, 
sent out by the Beg of the town we had just left. 



162 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

Even the heads of little unwalled towns, which we 
did not stop at, would bring out dastar-khans, and 
entreat us to honor them bj at least drinking a cup 
of tea. I began to get quite frightened at the name 
of dastar-khan. The quantities of superfluous food 
and unnecessary tea which I consumed dui'ing the 
journey were enormous. 

'' As we approached Yarkand, the honorary mes- 
sengers were despatched more frequently than ever, 
returning in their new robes. We crossed a consid- 
erable rivei-, which I was told is navigated by boats 
in the summer months when its bed is full. ]^ow it 
is divided into five streams, all of them fordable. 
The Yoozbashee had told me that I should be met 
outside the city of Yarkand by some person of con- 
sequence, the bi'other or son of the Shaghawal (Viz- 
ier, or Governor), to whom it would be proper for 
me to present a ' jama,' or robe. He asked me 
whether I was provided with such a present, and told 
me that I might command him for anything I re- 
quired, were it 1,000 tillahs (about £600). At the 
same time he wrote in to the Shaghawal to hint to 
him that, my caravan being delayed, I had not by 
me the proper robe to present to a man of high 
rank, and should therefore feel uncomfortable if one 
came to meet me, and that a smaller man had better 
be sent. Accordingly, I was met three miles from 
Yarkand by another Yoozbashee in goi-geous cloth- 
ing, with about thirty horsemen, who were drawn up 
in line to receive me. We dismounted and em- 
braced in Eastern fashion. (I had practised this on 
the Beg of Foskyam, and signally failed from rais- 



\l||||l|!!|||||||||iinl 



THE MARCH TO TARKAND 163 

ing the wrong arm.) He astonished me by the vig- 
orous clasp he gave me, and completely stopped my 
breath as I was preparing to accompany the embrace 
with a series of polite questions as to his health. I 
then presented him with a new robe (lent me by my 
Yoozbashee for the purpose), which one of my ser- 
vants put over his shoulders. After this we all re- 
mounted, and continued our journey. Shortly after- 
ward a long low line appeared in front of us, in 
which I recognized the object of my long journey- 
ings ; it was the wall of Yarkand. As we ap- 
proached through a perfectly flat country, one object 
was conspicuous, rising above the wall directly in 
front of us. It was a tall square scaffolding, like 
that of a tower that is building, with an upper and a 
lower platform at the top. Seeing my look of in- 
quiry Moollah Shereef whispered to me in Persian 
that it was the execution-stage ! This is the first 
thing a stranger sees of the city of Yarkand. 

" After twenty minutes^ ride through a labyrinth 
of winding streets, we passed out through another 
gate, and crossed an empty piece of ground, some 
four hundred yards across, which divided the old 
from the new city. A few tumble-down houses 
marked the site of a bazaar which, under the Chinese 
regime, united the two towns.* The ' Yang-Shahr ' 
(New Town),f which we were approaching, had 
been built as a place of habitation and refuge by 

* In 1877, eight years after Shaw's visit, the Chinese regime was 
restored. 

f There is a " Yang-Shahr " or cantonment at each of the cities 
of East Toorkistan. This word must not be confounded " Yang- 



164 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

the foreign rulers of tlie coiintrj'. AVhenever any 
tumult or rising took place, the Chinese troops seem 
to have retired inside and patiently waited till 
matters blew over, when they would issue out and 
resume their former position in the country. The 
walls are of the same material as those of the 
old city, but surrounded b}- a deep ditch, and sur- 
mounted at intervals by curious pagoda-like build- 
ings, relics of Chinese occupation. The gateway was 
in similar style ; while round about it were congre- 
gated great numbers of Toorkee soldiers in red tunics 
and trousers. Inside, many more were lounging 
about in picturesque attitudes, singing and dancing 
with such a studied air of ease, such a careful assump- 
tion of nonchalance^ that I immediately discovered 
the purpose of the assemblage. Kor did they seem 
sufficiently at home in their uniforms for me to be- 
lieve that they were in the habit of wearing them. 
Two or three were practising the goose-step, and I 
am to this moment undecided whether they were 
meant to represent recruits at drill or sentries walk- 
ing up and down at their post. A short way down 
the street we came upon an artillery barrack with a 
row of small guns and howitzers in front. The ar- 

Hissar," which is the name of a town, itself provided with a 
**Yang-Shahr." 

Marco Polo says (see Yule's Marco Polo, i. 300), "While on 
the subject of the armies of the Grand Khan, it may be proper 
here to observe . . . that it became necessary to keep 
armies in such of the provinces as contained large cities and an 
extensive population, which [armies] ai'e stationed at the distance 
of four or five miles from those cities, and can enter them at 
their pleasure." 




THE SHAGHAWAL OF YARKAND. 



THE MARCH TO TABKAND 165 

tillerjmen were dressed in blue, and my eye imme- 
diately rested on a group better dressed than the 
others, apparently officers. There was no mistaking 
them for anything but natives of India, possibly old 
mutineers. 

" A few hundred yards farther on the street led 
into an open space, beyond which was another wall 
and a gate. Before reaching this we pulled up and 
dismounted, and I was led into a house on the left by 
the two Yoozbashees. Passing through three court- 
yards, we reached a kind of pavilion at the end of 
the third. The flat roof projecting in front formed 
a broad veranda supported on high pillars ; in the 
middle, a recess carried back to the farther wall held 
a kind of raised divan, matted and carpeted for visi- 
tors to sit on ; on either side of the recess doors 
opened into comfortable rooms, furnished with Bok- 
hara carpets and with bright fires burning. The 
Yoozbashee informed me that this house was mine, 
aud that, after resting a little, 1 should be taken to 
see the Shaghawal, or Governor." 



CHAPTER XIII. 

RESIDENCE IN YARKAND 

SHAW was left alone for a short time, after being 
installed in his residence, and then the Yooz- 
bashee who had accompanied him from tlie Sanjoo 
Pass appeared to conduct him to the Shaghawal, or 
Governor. This officer, he had discovered, was not 
only the Governor of Yarkand, but also the second 
man in the kingdom, corresponding to the Grand 
Yizier in Turkey. During the absence of the Ata- 
lik-Ghazee, or King, in Kashgar, he occupied the 
palace at Yarkand. 

"Passing through the great gate which I had be- 
fore seen," says Shaw, "and which was full of sol- 
diers (no sham appearance of neglige here), we 
reached a second similarly guarded portal, which gave 
access to the interior of the palace. One large court- 
yard was crossed. Its four sides were lined with of- 
ficials sitting solemnly with ej'es fixed on the ground, 
and each bearing a white wand in his hand. The 
silence prevailing amid such numbers of men made 
an impression quite in keeping with the scene, the 
palace of an Oriental despot. Before the door of a 
second court-yard, a large screen concealed every- 
thing until we entered. Here the solitude of the in- 
ner penetralia was as effective as the silent crowd 



RESIDENCE IN YARKAND 167 

without. An usher with a white wand preceded us, 
and half-way up the court stopped me to point 
through a distant door, where he whispered to me 
the Shaghawal was visible. I saluted him as required 
by bowing, and then was conducted up some steps to 
the door of the room. Here everyone left me, and 
the usher motioned to me to enter alone. A small, 
elderly man in sober-colored clothes was sitting on a 
cushion by the fire. He rose, and hurried forward, 
to meet me near the door, where he embraced me 
after the Eastern fashion, and then led me by the 
hand to another cushion near the fire opposite his 
own, all the while welcoming me most cordially and 
inquiring whether I had received every comfort and 
attention by the way. After sitting down, I rose 
again as I had been instructed, and uttered the Allali- 
o Akabar ! with the sweep of the arms. Then sitting 
down again, Toorkee fashion, I received and replied 
to many complimentary speeches from the Shagha- 
wal. 

"He expressed his pleasure at the arrival of an 
Englishman, saying that they know the friendship of 
our nation for the Sultan of Koom, who was the 
chief of the Mussulman religion, and thus regarded 
us as already their friends also. But the arrival of 
an English Sahib, who has undertaken all the trouble 
and difficulty of so long a journey for the purpose of 
visiting his King, was a further bond of friendship. 
Friendship, he said, makes everything to prosper ; 
but by enmities countries become waste. I replied, 
suitably I hope, saying that I trusted my visit might 
be the means of establishing a friendly intercourse 



16S TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

between the two countries, as we on our part enter- 
tained the most amicable feelings toward the Toorks. 
I added that, when mj Sovereign heard of the kind 
treatment extended to one of her subjects in Toorkis- 
tan, she would be extremely pleased. After this the 
Shaghawal said he must apologize for my detention 
at Shahidoolla and for the incompleteness of the re- 
ception I had met with ; which were owing to my 
not having announced my coming beforehand. I 
stared in astonishment at this, and said, " Did not 
my servant, the Moonshee, deliver the letter and 
messages to the King with which he was charged ? " 
The Shaghawal answered, "No." I replied, " Then 
I must have seemed to you guilty of great w^ant of 
respect to the King, in not applying beforehand for 
his permission to come. But in truth that was the 
ver}^ object with which I sent my Moonshee on be- 
fore me. I request that you will send for him, and 
ask him for the casket in which he brought my let- 
ter for the King. I much regret the apparent want 
of respect on my part.' He answered, ' JN'o, no ; 
there is no want of respect ; I was only sorry that 
you should liave been detained at Shahidoolla, and 
that we had not longer notice, so as to prepare for 
you a more honorable reception. As for the Moon- 
shee, he is your servant, and will be called whenever 
you send for him.' 

" During this conversation a ' dastar-khan ' had 
been spread, and tea given to me by an attendant. 
After a little further talk, in rather lame Persian on 
my part, I rose to go. 

" The Shaghawal put his hand on me to detain 



RESIDENCE IN TARE AND 169 

me, and in a few seconds an attendant brought in a 
rich silk robe, which was put over my shoulders as I 
took my leave. The Shaghawal also j-ose, and con- 
ducted me out by another door through a long room, 
which I heard afterward was used as a mosque for 
the royal household. At the farther end of this he 
parted from me with a bow. My people here re- 
joined me. In solemn procession I was ushered back 
to my house, whei'e all my baggage had by this time 
arrived. At the outer gate of the palace we met a 
person of some distinction on horseback. He imme- 
diately dismounted, and advanced to embrace me. 
The Yoozbashee muttered some words of introduc- 
tion, and I threw myself into his arms with all the 
fervor of a long friendship. To this moment I have 
not the slightest idea as to who he was. 

" Behind me followed a procession of the Shag- 
hawal's servants bearing the ' dastar-khan ' which had 
been put before me. This appears to be the cus- 
tom. 

" On reaching home I immediately sent for my 
Moonshee. He presently appeared, dressed in gor- 
geous robes, the gift of the Shaghawal, and I told 
him to send for the casket with the letter at once. I 
had enclosed my letter to the King, which he had 
brought in a handsome little box of the enamelled 
gold which is known as Goojeratee work. This 
speedily arrived, and I put it into the hands of the 
Yoozbashee without opening it, requesting him to 
give it to the Shaghawal. This I did that they 
might read the letter themselves, and see that I had 

spoken truth when I said I had sent beforehand to 
12 



170 TBAVEL8 IN CENTRAL ASIA 

ask permission of the King to come. About an hour 
afterward the Yoozbashee returned, bringing the let- 
ter and casket back with a message from the Shag- 
hawal, saying that I should keep them to give to the 
King myself when I saw him. However, they had 
evidently read the letter, which was all I wanted. 

" My Moonshee now related to me all the circum- 
stances of his journey and stay at Yarkand. I was im- 
mensely vexed at his not having delivered my letter, 
nor apparently mentioned its purport. His explana- 
tion was such as to silence me for the time, but I 
still suspend my judgment regarding it. Mohammed 
E^azzar, the returning envoy to whose care I had en- 
trusted my Moonshee, had, it appears, turned out a 
regular scoundrel. He treated Diwan Bakhsh veiy 
badly on the jonrney, and after their arrival spread 
reports about his being a spy, while he did not even 
mention that I was on my way hither. Yet he had 
been full of promises of assistance to me before he 
left Ladak, when I gave him several handsome pres- 
ents to secure his good-will. My Moonshee was, 
however, very well treated by the Shaghawal, who 
sent to meet him on the road, and caused ' dastar- 
khans ' and all the usual honors to be provided for 
him, and Mohammed Nazzar had fallen into dis- 
grace for his conduct in this and other respects. On 
arriving at Yarkand, Diwan Bakhsh was confined to 
one house, he and his servants, although otherwise 
provided with all they wanted, and presented with 
honorary allowances every day. Seeing this, and 
fearing that men would be sent to turn me back on 
the road if he mentioned my approach, he remained 



RESIDENCE IN YARKAND 171 

silent until he calculated that I must have reached 
Shahidoolla. Then he announced the purpose of his 
visit. 

" Even put in this way, I cannot consider this con- 
duct judicious. It avoided one evil, but produced 
another. The long concealment must have seemed 
most suspicious to them. 

" I now began establishing myself in my house. 
The first court-yard contains stables, with room for 
ten or twelve horses (the mangers very high even for 
a large animal). Here live my pony and my flock 
of sheep. Opposite were two or three rooms, which 
were made over to a Panjabashee (captain of fifty) 
and his lieutenant, who are appointed to remain in 
attendance on me. Here, also, all visitors are enter- 
tained while their arrival is announced to me. There 
is also a raised and roofed floor for receiving visitors 
in the summer. 

" My sitting-room is most comfortable, with a well- 
carpeted floor, a spacious fireplace, just like a Euro- 
pean one, and which I have never yet known to 
smoke. Tlie walls are white, and the ceiling care- 
fully papered. It has an opening for light covered 
with the likeness of a cucumber frame (with thin 
paper instead of glass). 

" Before I sat down to dinner, arrived the Yooz- 
bashee again, with a crowd of servants, bringing 
furniture. First, a table (only two feet high), 
painted in bright colors with patterns. Then two 
high straight-backed arm-chairs, of which the seats 
were on a level with the table ! Next two bedsteads, 
with large, thin mattresses lined with silk. These 



172 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

were for sitting on in the day as well as for sleeping 
on. Everj one of these pieces of furniture had been 
made expressly for me, as none of them are known 
in Yarkand. The Toorks always sit on carpets, and 
sleep on wooden shelves or on mattresses on the floor. 
The Shaghawal had asked the Hindostanees in his 
service what were the requirements of Englishmen, 
and these pieces of furniture were made fi-om their 
descriptions. The comparative height of the table 
and chairs is unfortunate, but luckily my American 
folding camp-chair is exactly the right height for 
the table. The tall chairs I reserve for occasions of 
ceremony, seating my visitor in one and myself in the 
other. When these things had been displayed, the 
Yoozbashee produced a skull-cap such as they all 
wear under their turban, a tall velvet cap turned up 
with fur (like his own that I described to you), an 
embroidered silk purse or pouch of peculiar shape to 
wear at the girdle, a pair of high boots, and, finally, 
a long robe of crimson silk thickly wadded, which he 
said the Shaghawal had sent for me, as the weather 
was getting cold. There was a considerateness in all 
this that made me feel quite friendly toward the old 
Shaghawal for the trouble he had taken to find out 
the things that would be agreeable to me." 

On the 10th of December Shaw had another talk 
with the Shaghawal, which we quote as an excellent 
specimen of Oriental conversation : 

" He said, 'The reason why we have not sent any 
envoy to the English is that we are ashamed to meet 
them, on account of the murder of the Englishman 
(Schlagintweit) some years ago. It is true the pres- 



RESIDENCE IN T ARK AND 173 

ent rulers had nothing to do with that murder, which 
was committed bj a madman, who was then in au- 
thority ; but as he was a Toorkistanee, we feared 
the guilt might be imputed to the present rulers.' 

" I answered that we knew the circumstances of the 
murder, and that the country was then under a dif- 
ferent rule, and therefore we did not impute guilt to 
those who could have had no share in it. I further 
explained that Schlagintweit was not an Englishman, 
but that, nevertheless, we had been much grieved at 
hearing of his murder, because he had gone from 
India to the place of his death, and had thus been a 
guest of ours. I added that it would be considered 
a great favor and kindness if any articles that had 
belonged to him could be found and given to me for 
his friends. / 

" The Shaghawal said, ' The time elapsed is so great 
that there is no chance of this, and in a matter of 
shame like this we hope to have the whole matter 
forgotten.' 

^' I said, ' That is best ; let us on both sides wipe 
away all recollections of it ; we, on our side, en- 
tertaining no ill - will to you for the deeds of an- 
other ; and you, on your part, meeting us without 
shame.' 

" He laughed, and said, * Good ; the matter is wiped 
away from between us.' 

" I said to him, ' God has so created our two coun- 
tries that we seem intended for mutual friendship. 
He has placed between us such a mountain bai'rier 
that neither can entertain any jealousy or fear of being 
attacked by the other, while the wants of each conn- 



174 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

try are supplied by the otlier, and thus the strongest 
incentive is offered to commerce.' 

"He cordially agreed, and said that, when hearts 
are joined, no mountains can divide ; but when hearts 
are not in unison, mountains arise even in the plains. 

" I said, ' Although I have not been sent here by 
our rulers, yet their mind, and the mind of my coun- 
trymen, is known to me : and 1 hoped to let the King 
know their friendly intentions and wishes. My re- 
ception as a private Englishman will highly gratify 
my Sovereign, as showing the honor in which our 
country is held.' 

" He said, ' If you had come in the name of the 
Lord Sahib,* or bringing a letter from him, any at- 
tentions we might show you would be thought to be 
given to him, and with some object in view. But 
now it is plain to all men that we bestow honor on 
you for your own sake, and out of pure friendship to 
your nation. As you are friends and allies of the 
Sultan-i-Room (who is the chief of our religion), we 
already felt great friendship for the English ; and 
thus, when a friend came and sJiook our doo7\ we at 
once said, " Come in." As for the attentions paid you, 
they are nothing, and we are only ashamed we could 
not do more for you.' 

'^ I said that I was hoping for a speedy interview 
with the King, and hoped to be the means of estab- 
lishing great friendship between the two countries. 

" He said, ' If you want to go on quickly to Kasli- 
gar, I will write and get the King's orders ; but it 
is not my part as host to say to my guest, " Move on." 
* The Viceroy of India. 



RESIDENCE IN T ARK AND 175 

However, if it is your own wish, it shall be done. 
As host, I say to you, " Stay and rest from the fa- 
tigues of your journey." ' 

" I said, ' 1 don't feel in any way tired, thanks to 
the comfort in which I have been brought along, and 
I am ready at any moment, by day or night, to start 
on a visit to the King. I shall feel no fatigue in 
anything which conduces to bring me before him.' 

'^ He said, ' Good ; I will get his orders for your 
journey.' " 

The same day the Yoozbashee left Yarkand, and 
Shaw accidentally discovered, from one of the other 
officials, that he had gone to Kashgar, to see the 
King. This was a promising sign, and Shaw would 
have been contented to wait, but for his irksome 
coniinement to the house and court-yard. When he 
made application to be allowed to ride out into the 
country, the polite answer was : " It is the custom in 
this country that no guest goes anywhere out of 
doors before seeing the King." He went once upon 
the roof of the house, but this was immediately re- 
ported, and he prudently refrained from going again. 
His servants, however, were allowed to go into the 
bazaar and purchase the necessary supplies. 

" On the 15th one of the officers came with an 
English letter from Hay ward to the King, and a re- 
quest that Shaw would translate it. He accordingly 
put it into Persian, and made his agent write it out 
fairly. The latter stated that Hayward had come 
8,000 miles for the purpose of trading, and requested 
permission to enter the country for that purpose. 
Keports were also brought to Shaw that Hayward 



176 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA. 

was on liis way from Slialiidoolla to Yarkand, and lie 
was closely questioned in regard to tLe latter's char- 
acter and purposes. His persistent denial of any 
knowledge of, or connection with him, seemed finally 
to make an impression upon the authorities. 

On the 20th Shaw writes : " This morning the 
Yoozbashee came to say that the Governor was ready 
to receive me, and whispered to my servant Jooma : 
'The gifts may be brought now.' Nothing was 
ready, as I had had no notice. However, I got to- 
gether in a great hurry a rifle, revolver, pink silk 
turban, some cloth, and one hundred and twenty 
pounds of tea, and off we went to the palace. In 
presenting my gifts to the Shaghawal, I said I hoped 
he would accept them, though they were not such as 
I should have wished to give him, had my caravan 
arrived. He seemed very much pleased, and said 
that I should not have given them, but that, as I had 
done so, he accepted them with great pleasure. 

"He then said he had written to the King to an- 
nounce my desire to go to him, and that he expected 
the answer in a day or two, when I should go to 
Kashgar and tell the King all I wished to say. 

" I said, ' I know the feelings and wishes of our 
nation with regard to you, although I am a mer- 
chant; and not sent by the Lord Sahib, who could 
not send an envoy until one should come from you.' 

"He answered, 'We have not sent one because we 
were ashamed of the murder of Schlagintweit ; but 
the Lord Sahib was not ashamed of anything ; win- 
did he not send an envoy first ? ' 

*' I laughed, and said, ' Well, now that I have ex- 



RESIDENCE IN T ARK AND 177 

plained matters, I hope there will be a constant in- 
terchange of envoys, and of all good offices between 
us and you.' 

" He replied, ' As for seeing the King, 1 trust the 
orders will come in a few days. Formerly, the King 
used to transact all business at Yarkand ; but now 
that he has transferred his seat of government to 
Kashgar, I believe he will send for me to be there 
with him also. I have detained Shaw Sahib at Yar- 
kand, that I might make his acquaintance and friend- 
ship ; for if he had gone on directly to Kashgar, he 
would have forgotten me quickly.' 

" I answered, ' There is no fear of that, after your 
kindness to me ; and I am delighted to hear of your 
coming to Kashgar, as I shall have a friend there to 
assist me by his advice.' 

" He said, ' 1 fear my going will be rather delayed, 
whereas yours will probably be in a few days.' " 

As Christmas approached, Shaw ordered his ser- 
vants to buy a joint of beef in the bazaar. There- 
upon he received a long and ceremonious message 
from the Governoi*, to the effect that he must ask 
the latter for all he wanted, and get nothing out of 
tlie city — that he had heard of the approaching festi- 
val, and would supply everything himself. Accord- 
ingly, on Christmas Day twelve men appeared, bring- 
ing an enormous ' dastar-khan,' two silk robes, and 
a cap. The agent also brought twenty different kinds 
of bread made in Yarkand. In the evening Shaw 
sent the Governor a gold pencil-case for himself and 
a gold-enamelled revolver for the King, and received 
in return a handsome garnet ring. 



178 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

On the 29tli, Shaw gave a dinner, or rather break- 
fast, party in state — for it was the fast-month of 
Kamazan, during which no good Mussulman touches 
food until after sunset. The guests, who were the 
Yoozbashee and three or four other officers, arrived 
about five o'clock. " Before breaking the fast, it is 
necessary to go through a form of prayers. Accord- 
ingly a large sheet was spread on the carpets (my 
table had been taken out of the room), and the Yooz- 
bashee began the call to pi-ayers, motioning to my 
Moonshee to take the front place as ' Imam,' or leader 
of the devotions. This is a piece of politeness, im- 
plying the superiority of the person so put forward. 
The others, standing behind, take their time from 
him. Diwan Bakhsh accordingly faced toward the 
Iviblah and went through the usual Mussulman pray- 
ers. At intervals the leader ntters aloud the word 
Allah, at which all prostrate themselves with their 
foreheads to the ground. Sometimes he repeats 
some verses of the Koran in a low voice, but the 
greater part of the time there is silence, each man 
saying his prayers within himself, kneeling down 
and rising up again according to the motions of the 
leader. Meanwhile, I was sitting in my chair by the 
fire, and each guest, as he finished his prayers, came 
and sat down bj^ me. 

" When all were ready, some white table-cloths 
were spread on the ground in front of us, and I left 
my chair and seated myself Toorkee fashion, near the 
fire, l^ext to me sat the Yoozbashee, then my Moon- 
shee, Diwan Bakhsh, then my former Mihmandar of 
Shahidoolla, who has just arrived here with Hay- 



i 



RESIDENCE IN YARKAND 179 

ward. Then four more Panjabashees, who attend 
on me, so forming two sides of a square. Before 
anything else, the fast was ceremoniously broken by 
eating a piece of bread dipped in salt. I gave them 
a kind of mixed dinner ; mainly English dishes, but 
lots of their own to fall back upon in case of neces- 
sity. I luckily had a few tins of English soup left, 
after which came pigeon-pie, i*oast fowls, legs of 
mutton, etc., and then apple-tart with cream, and 
plum-pudding. But they evidently relished most a 
huge pillau of rice, boiled mutton, and sliced carrots, 
which seems to be their usual dinner. Finally, a 
dessert of grapes, melons, apples, pears, pomegran- 
ates, etc. At this the Yoozbashee exclaimed to the 
servants, ' Halloh, you should have brought this in 
first ! ' I could not get him to use a knife and fork, 
but he consented to take a spoon for the apple-tart. 
We finished up with tea and coffee. The latter they 
did not know and would not drink." 

On the last day of the year 1868, Shaw received a 
dinner of a different kind from any that had been 
sent before. First came an immense vessel of real 
Irish stew, very savory and good ; the principal vege- 
table it contained was a large kind of "gram," like 
yellow peas. The other dish was a large sweet ome- 
lette, with molasses, and both were enough to have 
fed twenty men. Afterward came a smaller bowl of 
whipped cream and eggs. 

" No sooner," he writes, " had I finished dinner 
than in came the band. The chief musician had a 
kind of harpsichord [dulcimer?], like a miniature 
piano without any keys, played with a pointed instru- 



180 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

ment in the right hand, while the left hand follows 
its motions, stopping the vibration of the wires. 
Next to him sat a man with a long-necked guitai', 
called a ' citar,' played with a bow like a violoncello. 
It has nine strings, but only one is played upon, the 
rest being depressed below its level, and helping to 
swell the tone of the instrument. The third musi- 
cian blew upon a sort of slender fife, while the other 
three had tamborines, and also accompanied the mu- 
sic with their voices. It struck me that their play- 
ing was much superior to that of India, and even of 
Cashmeer. There was a precision abont it, an exac- 
titude of time and tune, which showed great profi- 
ciency. You will say I am no good judge in matters 
of music, and I confess that my opinion regarding a 
new opera would not be very valuable. But I think 
even I may be able to judge of Oriental music. 

"There was one extraordinary creature, the first 
singer. He had thick red mustaches hanging down 
from the corners of his mouth, and shaggy eyebrows 
with colorless eyes. His jaw was shaped much like 
that of the ' Wild Boar of the Ardennes,' whom Sir 
Walter Scott describes in ' Quentin Durward.' Al- 
together lie bore a most grotesquely ferocious aspect, 
and sang with hideous contortions of the face. He 
is just the kind of ogre that one might dream of in a 
nightmare. His next-door neighbor, the second 
singer, was a signal contrast — fat, jolly, peaceable- 
looking, and might stand for one of the sleek citizens 
of Liege whom Quentin Durward delivered from tlie 
Wild Boar's power. The i-equirements of the music 
were evidently too much for this personage. His 



RESIDENCE IN TARKAND 181 

fat cheeks shook with the exertion of beating the 
tamborine and singing up to time. The contrast be- 
tween these two afforded amusement to all of ns ; for 
I had a select party assembled to hear the music." 

On New Year's Day, 1869, Shaw wrote : " The 
weather here is beautifully bright and clear, although 
quite cold enough to suit one's ideas of the season. 
To-day, the mean temperature of the air has been 
fifteen degrees Fahrenheit. Water freezes the mo- 
ment it touphes the ground, and all articles of food 
become as hard as stone. It is a curious illustration 
of the climate of Toorkistan, that grapes grown in 
the villages round Yarkand now daily appear on my 
table, hard frozen. Yesterday I had some dipped 
into hot water to thaw, but as they lay on my table 
near a bright fire, they froze together into a mass, 
owing to the wetness of their outside. Cold pie has 
to be rebaked before it can be cut. Yet, with all 
this, I have not yet for one moment felt even chilly, 
such is the dryness and stiHness of the air, and the 
warmth of the long Toorkee robes, or 'jamas,' which 
I now wear. Besides, we have been acclimatized by 
the intense cold experienced on our journey, when 
wine froze into blocks, bursting the bottles, so that I 
had to break off pieces of claret to put into my glass, 
and the men used to go off to fetch water with a 
hatchet and a rojpe. There it was the fierce wind 
which chilled one's bones. By contrast, the present 
still cold is like paradise. 

" To-day I heard an anecdote of the King, which 
shows the energetic nature of the man, and his dis- 
regard of the Oriental notions of dignity. The mes- 



182 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

senger who took the first news of my Moonshee's 
approach, found him on the Artash Pass, bej'ond 
Kasligar, personally superintending the erection of a 
fort to defend the road. He was covered with dust, 
and had just had his leg hurt by the fall of a stone. 
The messenger could not discover which was the 
King, but tlie latter perceived him, and called to him 
to bring his despatches, which he read and answered 
on the spot." 

By this time it was evident, from hints dropped by 
the officials, that Shaw would be received by the 
King, and would therefore be sent on to Kashgar. 
This was a piece of good fortune wliich he could 
hardly have anticipated on leaving Leh. The jour- 
ney would enable him to see nearly all the inhabited 
part of Central Asia lying along the eastern base of 
the great mountain-chains which bound all this re- 
gion on the south, west, and north. On the third 
day of January, the permission came, accompanied 
with additional tokens of kindness : 

'' This morning, before I had breakfasted," he 
quotes from his journal, " the Yoozbashee arrived 
with a lai-ge packet of silks and brocades for me to 
give as presents to the King, etc., according to an 
arrangement which we came to yesterday. Nomin- 
ally, these things are merely lent to me, and are to 
be replaced by my own things when they arrive. 
After showing me all the stuffs, he gave me the wel- 
come news that I was to start for Kashgar to-mor- 
row. All this he communicated through my two 
attendants who talk Persian. After this, sending 
them both out of the room, he produced from the 



RE8IDENGE IN YABKAND 183 

breast of his robe a packet containing eleven lumps 
of stamped silver (called ^kooroos '), one full-sized 
one, and ten small ones, equal in value to another 
kooroos. The whole is worth about £35. He whis- 
pered to me to put them away out of sight, and that 
the Grovernor had sent them to me, thinking I might 
be in want of ready money for use. Having said 
this, he ran away with his usual imitation of an Eng- 
lish military salute which I have taught him. I am 
evidently intended to suppose that this is a private 
act of friendliness on the part of the Governor. It 
is very thoughtful on their part, as I certainly was 
in want of ready money. They will not allow me to 
have recourse to my only source of supply, viz., the 
sale of the goods which I had brought for that pur- 
pose. I should have seriously felt the inconvenience, 
had it not been that they supply me with every sort 
of food in quantities sufficient to feed a troop of cav- 
alry, so that all the dervishes of Yarkand, in their 
tall caps, make my gate a daily place of call, and the 
families, friends, and horses of my attendant officers 
are entirely maintained by me. Besides this, I daily 
receive about seventeen shillings in small change (50 
' tanga '). I have not yet mentioned that the chief 
money of Toorkistan consists of small copper coins, 
with a square hole in the middle [like the Chinese 
casK]. Of these, 25 make one tanga (about 4:d.), and 
they are run on strings, containing 20 tangas' worth 
on each string. These strings are the common cur- 
rency, from which smaller sums are detached at will. 
I receive two strings and a half every day " (about 
four dollars). 



CHAPTER XIY. 

THE JOURNEY TO KASHGAR 

ON the morning of January 4tli a handsome gray 
horse from the Governor's stables was brought 
to Shaw, and he was told to prepare at once for the 
journey to Kashgar. All his servants were pro- 
vided with horses, and there were others for the bag- 
gage, making twenty-seven in all, besides those of the 
Yoozbashee and his attendants. The first start is al- 
ways accompanied by many delays, and they did not 
get away from Yarkand until noon. Shaw must be 
allowed, as far as space will permit, to describe the 
journey in his own words : 

" We rode along part of one side of the new city, 
and the whole of another side. I thus had an oppor- 
tunity of inspecting the defences. From the road 
there slopes up a small glacis to the brink of the 
ditch, which is about twenty feet deep, and of equal 
width, reveted on both sides with sun-dried bricks. 
The escarpe or inner side rises into a battlemented 
earthen wall, which is hidden from an advancing 
enemy by the glacis, leaving only laachicoulis along 
the top visible, from which musketry fire might be 
directed on to the slope of the glacis. Inside this 
wall is another ditch, from which rises tlie main wall 
of the town. Counting from the crest of the glacis, 



THE JOURNEY TO KA8EGAR 185 

tlie main wall is about thirty-five feet high, and the 
same in thickness at the level. At intervals of abont 
sixty yards there are square projections to afford a 
flanking fire, while at the corner there is a regular 
bastion, surmounted by a fort two or three stories 
high. Near the gate the wall is immensely strength- 
ened, being (at a guess) fifty feet thick there. An 
outwork protects the gate, being connected with the 
wall which divides the two ditches. Through this a 
second gate (not opposite the inner one) leads out 
into the space between the two cities. Pagoda-like 
buildings rise at intervals above the wall, especially 
over the gateways. 

" We continued our march westward — the small 
mosques constantly met with along the road form 
most convenient indicators of the direction, point- 
ing out as they do the course toward Mecca, which, 
in Toorkistan, is made very slightly south of w^est. 
They use a small compass for this purpose, with an 
arm pointing west. Some three miles out, w^e halt- 
ed for the Yoozbashee, and then proceeded with him 
through a thickly peopled country. 

" However, about six miles from Yarkand we 

suddenly entered upon a tract consisting of sand-hills 

covered with coarse grass. This tract we crossed 

transversely for eight miles, but its w^idth straight 

across must be much less. It bears the appearance of 

having been brought down by some large flood of 

water, and so heaped upon the fertile plains. In the 

middle we crossed a wide depression, extending as 

far as we could see right and left, and filled with 

marshes and [)ools of water, with a rivulet connect- 
13 



186 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

ing them. This may have been the latest channel of 
the torrent which brought down the sand ; as we 
often see, when a stream of water has been poured 
on to light soil of any kind, it carries a quantity down 
with it, heaping it up in front of itself and at its 
sides, leaving, when it dries, a j-aised ridge with a 
depressed channel dow^n the centre. 

" Emerging from this raised sandy country we 
came ont upon a plain sloping upward to the foot of 
a range of mountains which were now visible (about 
twelve miles distant, they say, to the west), appar- 
ently running north and south. As I write down 
this distance I am forcibly struck by the contrast be- 
tween the climate of this country and of India. 
For it is twelve miles from Kangra to the range of 
the outer Himalaya, and at Kangra they seem to 
overhang the town. Every gorge and every rock 
could be counted, one would think, so distinctly are 
the forms visible. But here, at a distance of twelve 
miles, the Pamir Mountains appear to be a distant 
range, of which the outline only is distinguishable.* 

" The sloping plain at their foot is dotted with 
villages, more sparsel}^, however, than the country 
round Yarkand. What secrets are hid among those 
mountains, which so few European eyes have ever 
looked upon ! At this point they seem scarcely to 
deserve their appellation of Bam-i-doonia, or ' Up- 
per Floor of the World.' A lower range is chiefly 
visible, a long, almost level line, while the giants of 
the range rise behind it, forming in appearance a 

* On my return I found that tlie real crest of the range is very 
much farther back than twelve miles. 



THE JOURNEY TO KASHOAB 187 

liigher and more distant chain. The Yoozbashee 
pointed to the mountains due west, and said, ' Be- 
yond these lies Badakhshan ; again, a little more to 
the right, Bokhara ; still farther, where the range 
disappears in the distance, is the road to my own 
country, Andijan ; while to the north, where no 
mountains are visible from here, is Russia (Siberia).' 
I learnt from him that the King's dominions extend 
far up the valleys of this chain to the confines of 
Badakhshan ; they are full of nomad inhabitants, 
and contain many villages. The only name which 
he could give me for the range was that of ' Kizil- 
tagh ' — ' Red Mountain' — evidently a mere local ap- 
pellation. Orientals, as has often been remarked, 
are bad at generalization. They will have a name 
for every part, but none for the whole. 

" Turning north northwest, after a halt for prayers, 
we rode about four miles farther through fields, and 
then were met by the Beg of Kokh-robat, who, after 
dismounting and taking ray hand, escorted us into 
the large village of that name. It contains two 
serais, the larger of which was full of two-humped 
camels and bales of merchandise. In the court- 
yard of the houses I here observed, for the first time, 
open cai'ts used in field work by the country people. 
I forgot to mention that we had met several ' arabahs ' 
on the road, with three or four horses a piece (never 
more than one wheeler, all the rest harnessed abreast 
as leaders, and driven with reins from the cart). 
Passing through the bazaar, at a distance of a few 
hundred yards farther, we entered a large square 
surrounded by high battlemented walls newly built ; 



188 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

thence into a second large court containing a garden, 
and having a range of buildings at one side. I was 
shown into a large room with carpets and a fire. 
Mj agent and the servants were equally well lodged. 
The Yoozbashee told me that this was a kind of 
royal rest-house, built by the present King for his 
own private use on his journeys. There are similar 
ones all the way to Kashgar. They are called 
' oorda.' 

" Our conversation during the day fell upon the 
subject of the Governor. He has the reputation of 
being immensely learned ; my own acquaintance 
with him has shown me that he takes an interest in 
subjects which are utterly ignored by the majority of 
his countrymen. It appears that he was formerly 
chief secretary to the Khan of Khokand. His fame 
has been great ever since the day when he wrote 
such a letter in his master's name to the Ameer of 
Bokhara that none of the moolahs in that country 
could understand it! This seems to be considered 
the acme of learning in Central Asia; the fulness 
of light ends in dai'kness ! When first my agent 
reached Yarkand the Governor tested him in the 
same manner, though, I presume, with less severity, 
and put men to watch whether he read his letters 
with ease. 

" The next day our course lay northwest, through 
a stony desert at the foot of the mountains. Dm'ing 
part of the way we had a jungle of low scrub on our 
right, which is said to reach all the way to Aksoo, 
and to be full of w^ild beasts, tigers, etc. About 
half-way we stopped at a solitary ' serai,' with a 



THE JOURNEY TO KASHGAR 189 

mosque and two wells (nearly one hundred feet 
deep). This had all been built by the present King, 
who seems to be doing a great deal for the good of 
the country. Several arabahs had stopped here to 
feed the horses, and the women were peeping out at 
the stranger and his party. They belonged to the 
better classes, and were extremely fair-complexioned, 
but with black hair. They reminded me of Rubens's 
women in shape, so different from the dark, almond- 
eyed beauties of India. 

" Before reaching our night's resting - place we 
came upon a solitary ruined mosque, and a dry tank 
in the desert. The Yoozbashee took me off the road 
to see them, and told me tliat the mosque had been 
first put there by Chenghiz Khan while marching to 
tlie conquest of Toorkistan ! The tank was such as 
he made at all his desert halting-places. Water suf- 
ficient for his vast hordes was carried on camels, and 
when they encamped a tank was dug and filled with 
this water for the use d-f the men and cattle. Such 
is their tradition. They say also that he had a tent 
large enough to accommodate ten thousand men, and 
there he entertained hosts of guests, and had tea 
served to them in cups made of precious stones ! 

" While conversing thus we came upon cultivated 
land, and presently entered the large village of Kizil. 
This word signifies ' red,' a name well deserved by 
the color of the soil. My surmise that there must 
be iron in it was speedily verified by the sight of 
several furnaces for smelting the ore. 

" During the whole day there was a bitter wind 
from the north, almost directly in our faces. The 



190 



TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 



Yoozbashee asked me whether I should prefer to put 
up in the royal ' oorda,' where the rooms are large 
and cold, or in a house in the little town, which 
would be warmer. I chose the latter, as I would 




^^ 







Kashgar Camel. 



not miss the opportunity of seeing as much as I can 
of the people. We were received by an officer 
whose features at once -struck me as something differ- 
ent from the regular Toorkee type. He had a long 
aquiline nose and large round eyes, while his features 
were finer and his face less fleshy. Hearing him 
outside my door talking nothing but Persian as he 



THE JOURNEY TO KASHGAB 191 

gave his directions for procuring all lie wanted, 1 in- 
quired who he was. Thej told me he was a Tajik 
from Andijan, one of the race akin to the Persians, 
who held the country before the Tartar invasion. I 
w^as very anxious to have a talk with him, as the 
first specimen of his race that I have seen, but could 
not get hold of him when I was at leisure. 

" In the evening the village boys amused them- 
selves by sliding on the frozen tank, as in England. 
Starting, the next morning, through a large crowd 
of the inhabitants, assembled as usual to witness our 
departure, we travelled still northwest through a 
country of mixed cultivation and waste or pasture. 
The Yoozbashee pointed out to me a large barrow on 
the right side of the road, where he said were buried 
the Chinese dead who fell in a battle that took place 
here twelve years ago. The Mussulman soldiers of 
Walle Khan, who were killed on the same occasion, 
are buried in numerous graves on the left of the 
road. One of our party, Sadoo Khoja, an old soldier 
who was with me at Shahidoolla, had been present 
at the battle. Walle Khan was defeated, and fled to 
Kashgar, where he had built a house of human 
skulls, as also at Yanghissar. The armies are said 
to have numbered 50,000 on each side ; but part of 
the Chinese were stationed at places nearer Yarkand, 
and I cannot make out the actual numbers engaged. 
The Chinese were all infantry, the Andijanees cav- 
alry. 

" The mountains continued parallel with our route, 
which ran about northwest. After riding not quite 
three tasli (say fourteen miles), we halted at a village 



192 TBAVELS IN CENTRAL A8IA 

full of ironworks. I was taken to a house where the 
large room was given up to me, the family retiring 
into some inner apartments. A bustling, good-hu- 
mored farmer's wife did the honors, and was very 
grateful to me for interceding with the Yoozbashee, 
who wished to turn her whole household out of doors. 
A few presents of tea, meat, and bread (from my 
dastar-khan) were received with numerous Allaho- 
akabars, and a return present of a melon. Later in 
the day, at the time of breaking the fast, her husband 
advanced, bringing me a basin of hot macaroni soup, 
while she brought me a newly baked cake of bread ; 
both very good indeed. Basins of soup were also 
given to my Hindoo servants, who, although unable 
to eat of it, at a hint from me took the basins with a 
bow, and, going out, handed them over to the other 
servants. The household arrangements are quite as 
o^ood as those of an EnMish small farmer and his 
family. Neat and clean earthenware dishes placed 
on the shelves ; large, well made, and ornamented 
wardrobe boxes — everything comfortable and well- 
to-do. The entrance is through a regular farm-yard, 
with sheds for the cattle on one side littered down 
with straw, closed stables for the horses, cocks, and 
hens strutting about, and all the tillage implements 
standing up in corners. The haj^ and straw are 
stacked on the roofs, while a door leads out into a 
walled orchard. To make the, scene more homelike, 
snow is lying an inch or two deep over the whole 
countr}^ and the roadside pond is hard frozen, with 
village boys cutting out slides on it in their hobnailed 
boots. 



THE JOURNEY TO KASHGAB 193 

" In the afternoon I went a little way down the 
lane to see an iron-smelting furnace at work. It is 
just like a dice-box, four or five feet high, with a 
roof over it, leaving an exit in the middle for the 
smoke. Round the dice-box, under the roof, sit six 
bojs and girls blowing skin bellows with each hand 
— twelve bellows in all. An opening shows the 
glowing mass with a stream of molten stuff slowly 
oozing downward. A pit two feet deep showed the 
bricked-up door of the furnace, through which the 
metal is extracted daily. The ore is broken up by 
a man with a hammer, who keeps throwing it in at 
the chimney, while another supplies charcoal through 
the same opening. Xo third substance. Twenty 
* charaks' ' weight (sixteen pounds each) of ore, and 
the same quantity of charcoal, are used in the twenty- 
four hours, and the produce is about four ' charaks ' 
of iron. The metal is very good and fine-grained, 
looking almost like steel when made up into tools. 
In the hill-districts of India, where magnetic oxide of 
iron is found, the process is almost the same ; but the 
blast is much less, only two people blowing one skin 
in each hand, or four bellows instead of twelve. The 
molten metal also is taken out hot, and hammered, 
while here, in Toorkistan, it is allowed to cool for a 
w^liole night before the furnace is opened. 

" In the afternoon two officers of the Beg of Yang- 
hissar were brought to me by the Yoozbashee. They 
began by embracing me, and said they had been sent 
to welcome me. Presently they returned, bringing a 
dastar-klian and a fine sheep, and making excuses for 
not offering more, as nothing could be got in this vil- 



194: TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

lage. Mj poor Yoozbashee is quite powerless here, 
being out of the immediate government of his rela- 
tive, the Governor. He could hardly get anything 
for himselfen, evso I sent him half a sheep, etc. — a 
strange turning of the tables. 

" The next morning (the 7th) I went out to exam- 
ine the neighboring iron-smelting furnace which had 
just been opened in order to take out the pig of iron, 
the resuJt of yesterday's smelting. All night the 
furnace had been allowed to cool, and about eight 
o'clock the hearth was opened, and the mass of metal, 
still warm, was removed from the bottom. The 
hearth slopes toward the front, where it terminates 
in a narrow neck. Before being charged again, it is 
lined with some soi't of fire-clay. The furnace itself 
is wider at the bottom, slightly diminishing in diam- 
etei' as it ascends. 

" Here again the villagers were full of curiosity re- 
garding my habits. They asked my agent whether 
I did not get tired sitting up always on a chair ! 
They are much struck, too, at the number of dishes 
and plates which I require at my meals. They them- 
selves use only one large dish between four or five 
of them to eat from. 

" I started with my party from the farm-house, and 
was joined by the Yoozbashee and his followers out- 
side of the village. Riding still in a direction more 
west than north, and parallel with the range of high 
mountains on our left, we gradually converged 
toward the long low edge of sand-hills which had 
been dimly visible yesterday to our right. After 
passing through alternate grassy plains (now dry and 



THE JOURNEY TO KASHGAR 195 

withered-looking) and village cultivation for two tash, 
we halted at a solitary ' langar ' (or rest-house) on the 
edge of the sandy track. While sitting before a ^yq 
here, we were joined by a Mirza-bashee, or chief of 
scribes, who had been sent to meet me. With him 
we rode the rest of the way to Yang-hissar. 

"First we crossed ti'ansversely the lines of sand- 
hills. Their ridges much resembled the waves of the 
sea when subsiding after a storm, as they come roll- 
ing in to the shore in long lines divided by broad 
spaces of almost level water. There was the same 
order apparent through the same confusion, and the 
size is about the same. These hills are composed of 
stratified sand, assuming in some of the ridges the 
consistency of stone and dipping north. The spaces 
between were now covered with withered vegetation. 
After riding about five miles slantingly through this 
tract, we came to the fertile banks of a small river 
which had cut for itself a gorge through the hill. 
The regular bridge was broken, but we crossed on 
the ice, where a gang of laborers were employed in 
strewing earth on it as a road for us. They had also 
thrown a temporary bridge from the ice to the shore 
across a space where the current had not allowed the 
water to freeze. Our party was joined by the officials 
in charge of the work. 

" Ascending the high bank of the river we found 
ourselves in a well-populated district, still, however, 
traversed by the low ridges of sand. Crossing the 
last of these, we saw at our feet a charming landscape 
which reminded me of the vale of Cashmere, an illu- 
sion supported by the sight of the snowy mountains be- 



196 TRAVELS TJSr CENTRAL ASIA 

liind us and to our left. As far as the eye could see, 
there stretched a highly cultivated plain, to which or- 
chards and groves of trees surrounding the numerous 
scattered homesteads gave almost the appearance of a 
wood. A little way out on the plain the orchards 
and houses crowded more thickly together pointed 
out the town of Yang-hissar. We reached this plain 
by a rapid descent of about fifty yards, and then rode 
through a country resembling the suburbs of a large 
city. In one house the walls were ornamented with 
drawings of steamers and railway trains ! Before we 
entered the streets, however, we turned aside to the 
left, and rode along under the high mud walls of the 
old town. Leaving this, and preceded by the Mir- 
za-bashee and the officials, 1 was led to one of the 
royal rest-houses, consisting as usual of a large walled 
enclosure, with court-yards and ranges of good -sized 
rooms. The ' new town,' or fort, appeared about half 
a mile to our right and the same distance from the old 
town. In dimensions it resembles a large fort rather 
than a town. To me was assigned a room hand- 
somely carpeted, with large cushion-mattresses, cov- 
ered with silk, arranged along the walls, and near the 
fire, for myself and my visitors to sit on. My ser- 
vants and the agent were lodged in other apartments 
of the same building, but the Yoozbashee had to take 
up his quarters in a neighboring farm-house, although 
there was plenty of room for him. Apparently it is 
only the King's guest who is allowed to lodge in the 
royal rest-house. Our acquaintance of yesterday ush- 
ered in a large dastar-khan, sheep, fowls, etc. I hear 
that he is one of the King's principal ^ masters of the 



THE JOURNEY TO KA8HGAR 197 

ceremonies,' sent to see the proper etiquette followed. 
At the Yoozbashee's suggestion I gave him a ' kliilat,' 
or robe, and another as to the secretar3\ 

" In the afternoon arrived the officer to wliom I 
had given a present on the first night after leaving 
Yarkand. I afterward learnt he was a relative of 
the King. The Yoozbashee now brought him to pay 
me a visit. He said lie had gone on to Yarkand on 
some business to the Governor in connection with the 
issue of warm clothing to the troops. The Governor 
had instructed him to join mj party, and accompany 
me on, unless orders came from the King for me to 
delay at Yang-hissar. As to this, my agent was in 
the afternoon told by the master of the ceremonies 
that he had received orders for me to sleep two 
nights here, and go on the next day. So I suppose I 
shall have the company of my friend, the King's rel- 
ative, during the rest of the journey. He seems a 
very good fellow, as hearty and good-humored as the 
Yoozbashee, and, as I told him, I hope to improve 
in my Persian by having him to talk to. 

"The same afternoon, while strolling about the 
neighborhood, I happened to come across the Yooz- 
bashee's temporarj^ dwelling - place, and saw him 
standing outside. He shouted to me to come, 
brought me in, and made me sit down by the fire to 
drink tea, while he washed his face and arms accord- 
ing to rule, and said his evening prayers. In the in- 
tervals of his devotions, after turning his head right 
and left to salute the two angels who are supposed to 
sit on each shoulder of a Mussulman, he interrupted 
himself to call for more tea and more sugar for Shaw 



198 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

Saliib, and then continued his chant of ' Bismillah-ar- 
rahman-ar-raheem.' He made me stay and join in 
liis meal ; first breaking the fast by dipping a finger 
in a Clip of salt and water, and pntting it to his mouth. 
Not till after this is done does it become lawful to eat 
other food. He gave me a bowl of soup containing lit- 
tle lumps of paste tasting like macaroni. He was very 
anxious that I should stay to join in the great pilao 
of rice and mutton that was preparing, but I with 
difficulty excused myself, saying it was getting dark, 
and I should not find my way home. 

'' On the morning of the 8th my Moonshee was 
visited by a moollah who said he had been present 
when Schla2:intweit was killed. He came before 
Walle Khan, who was then besieging the Chinese 
new town or fort at Kashgar. Schlagintweit asked 
how long he had been so engaged. Walle Khan an- 
swered, ' Three months.' ' Oh,' rejoined Schlagint- 
weit, 'my countrj'men would take the place in tliree 
days. There is no difficulty at all.' ' Indeed,' replied 
the chief ; and, turning round, he gave orders to take 
the Frank out and cut his throat. The moollah says 
that Walle Khan was a regular demon, far different 
from the present King. Schlagintweit was taken to 
the banks of the Kashgar Kiver, and there killed. 
In his pocket were found a compass and a watch. 
The executioner offered them to the moollah, who 
says he refused them. 

" My servants visited the town during the day. 
From gate to gate it is over eleven hundi-ed paces 
long, but the suburbs outside the w^all double the size 
of the town. It was the weekly market-day, and 



THE JOURNEY TO KA8HGAR 199 

crowds flocked in the streets. My servants found 
two fellow-conntrj^men (Hindoo traders) at the serai, 
and described with much laughter a long row of bul- 
locks' carcases that w^ere hanging just opposite their 
doors. Travelling subdues prejudices wonderfully; 
who would have thought of Hindoos making a joke 
of such a circumstance ! 

" The lOtli of January we remained at Yang-his- 
sar, and I took a long walk to the first ridge of the 
low hills. These hills I find run exactly east and 
west here, and appear parallel to the range of snowy 
mountains. I measured the ice of a tank ; it was 
eight inches thick! In the afternoon it w^as an- 
nounced that we should march next morning. Ac- 
cordingly, on the 11th, we travelled about twenty-five 
miles, as far as the village of Yepchang. The coun- 
try consists alternately of village lands under culture, 
and of grassy plains covered with cattle and horses. 
We crossed the River Koosoon by a wooden bridge 
at a narrow spot ; above and below this place it was 
about fifty or sixty yards wide, and is said to be dan- 
gerous to cross on account of quicksands. ]^ow it 
was nearly entirely frozen over. En route we met 
Mohammed Isak Jan, the brother of the Governor of 
Yarkand. We dismounted, and embraced very cor- 
dially. As he was on his way back to Yarkand (hav- 
ing gone to Kashgar since I have been on the road), 
I gave him many polite messages for his brother. 
About two o'clock we stopped foi* prayers at a cot- 
tage where they could get warm water for their ab- 
lutions. There was a child four or five years old 
whom the Yoozbashee amused himself by frighten- 



200 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

iiig, making faces at it, and clawing at it with his 
gloves, to the great disturbance of its mother. Rid- 
ing on again, we had much conversation. He sajs 
the pay of a Yoozbashee (captain of 100) is 300 til- 
lahs a year (150^.), while that of a private soldier 
(cavalry) is 30 tillahs, or 15Z. Their dress, accoutre- 
ments, and horses are all given to them. In war 
time the pay is more than doubled. He liad heard 
of our Abyssinian war five months ago, but asked 
the Moonshee whether the Abyssinians were Mussul- 
mans or kafirs (heathens). He also related to me 
that last year he carried to Yarkand the news of the 
capture of Kooche, which is twenty-eight regular 
marches distant (about five hundred and sixty miles), 
and he accomplished the distance in three days, 
changing his horse twenty-eight times. From the 
village of Yepchang he went to Yarkand in one day 
(121 miles). For this service he received 40 tillahs 
at Yarkand =24/., and on his return to the King's 
camp the latter gave him two silver yamboos (worth 
34:Z.). Talking of liding, he remarked that my Moon- 
shee carried himself in a peculiar way, while I rode 
in the same fashion as himself and his countrymen. 
The Moonshee's seat is of course that of Indian 
horsemen, with short stirrups and reins held high. 
I had myself noticed that the Toorkee seat on horse- 
back is more like that of Englishmen. 

" On reaching Yepchang, we were met at our 
night's quarters by the master of the ceremonies, 
who had come on in advan.ce to prepare everything 
for us as usual. He ushered me into my room, and 
presently returned with the usual dastar-khan. His 



THE JOURNEY TO KASBOAR 201 

manner almost proclaims liis avocation. Quiet yet 
decided in his movements, and handsomely dressed, 
he seems by a glance of his eye to put everybody in 
his proper place. You remember Steerforth's gen- 
tlemanly attendant who made David Copperfield feel 
so young. My master of ceremonies is a second edi- 
tion of him. 

"We left Yepchang in the morning; the master 
of ceremonies had ridden in to Kashgar dui-ing the 
night to announce my arrival. He met us again 
about half-way. We passed through a populous and 
well-cultivated country, crossing four rivers during 
the day's ride. On the banks of the last stream we 
stopped for the afternoon prayer. The fortress or 
new city of Kashgar was here in full sight, in the 
midst of an open treeless country, covered, however, 
with cultivation. The defences, as we approached, 
were seen to be exactly similar to those of Yarkand 
New City, but the place is smaller. Passing several 
obtuse angles of the wall, we reached a gate on the 
E.N.E. side, before which, however, we were met by 
a Yoozbashee carrying a double-barrelled rifle of 
European make. He and the master of ceremonies 
preceded us in through the gate, past a corj)s de 
garde where sat rows of soldiers (converted Chinese), 
through a second gate to the right past more rows of 
soldiers, and into a third gateway giving entrance 
into the New City. In front of these men were 
ranged their arms, consisting of huge muskets called 
* taifoor,' which are managed by four men a piece. 
These ' taifoor ' were propped up in front on a forked 

rest, while their butts rested on the ground. At the 
14 



202 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

third portal all our party dismounted, and we walked 
for two hmidred yards through a broad avenue, 
crowded with men in briglit - colored robes — all ap- 
parently hangers-on of the Coui-t. Through these a 
way was kept clear for us by nuuierous ushers with 
white wands, one of whom preceded us down a street 
to the right to the house assigned to me. It is ap- 
parently a new building with numerous large court- 
yards, in the farthest of which are my own quarters. 
The rooms are smaller than at Yarkand, but to make 
up for this, there is a large covered reception-place 
with a verandah in front of all. Here an immense 
Khoten carpet is spread wdth rugs along the back. 

'' A ' dastar-khan ' was immediatel}^ brought by an 
officer, and I was asked when I wished to visit the 
King. I answered that I should wish to do so at 
once, but that, if it Avere proper that I should present 
my gifts at my first visit, they could not be unpacked 
and got ready in time. They replied that the visit 
had better be to-morrow, then. Afterward tliej^ pre- 
sented to me a Mahram, or usher, and a Dahbashee, 
or captain of ten (a sergeant), who are appointed to 
remain night and da}^ in attendance. The Mahram 
deputed for this office is the son of the former Mus- 
sulman Governor of Kashgar, under the Chinese. 

" We now began getting together the gifts wdiich 
I had brought for the King, cleaning and putting the 
things in order. The Yoozbashee came in after 
dark and began asking me wdiat I proposed to give, 
so I sent for my Hindoo agent to bring the list. 
Meanwhile the Mahram came in and sat down. 
When the list w^as brought I observed that the Yooz- 



i 



THE JOURNEY TO KASHGAB 203 

bashee would hardly listen to it, but turned the con- 
versation, saying : ' You may give just what you like 
to the King ; my task is only to conduct you in 
safety to his presence.' When the Mahram had gone 
out, the Yoozbashee told us in a low voice that he 
could not say anything on that subject in the for- 
mer's presence, as it would be reported that he was 
telling the guest what he was to give and what not 
to give. I took the opportunity of asking his advice 
as to whether I sliould give a separate present to the 
King's son. Ascertaining that there were no listen- 
ers outside, he replied, ^ Don't give a needle's value 
to anyone but the King. He would be displeased if 
you did.' " 



CHAPTER XV. 

DETENTION AT KASHGAR 

THE interview with Mohammed Yakoob, the 
Atalik-Ghazee or King, took place Jaiinarj 
12th, the day after Sliaw's arrivah We give his ac- 
count of it entire : 

" Early this morning all my presents for the King 
were set in order on trays, and about nine o'clock 
various ushers and officials came to fetch me. I 
started, escorted by the Yoozbashee who met me 
yesterday, my own Yoozbashee (whose name, by the 
bye, is Mohammed Yakoob like the King's), the 
Mahrambashee, etc., and followed by between thirty 
and forty men carrying the various articles forming 
my ' nazar,' or gift. From my door to the entrance 
of the palace, a distance of a quarter of a mile, a 
broad avenue had been formed in the crowd, whose 
bright robes of various colors had the effect of a liv- 
ing kaleidoscope. Entering the gateway, we passed 
through several large quadrangles, whose sides were 
lined with ranks upon ranks of brilliantly attired 
guards, all sitting in solemn silence, so that they 
seemed to form part of the architecture of the build- 
ings, whose want of height would otherwise have 
given them a mean appearance. Entire rows of 
these men were clad in silken robes, and many 



DETENTION AT KASHQAR 205 

seemed to be of high rank from the richness of their 
equipments. Those of divers tribes, and with 
stransce arms, were mixed with the mass. For the 
first time I saw soldiers armed with bows and carry- 
ing quivers full of arrows. Thej were Kalmuks. 
The whole effect was curious and novel. The num- 
bers, the solemn stillness, and the gorgeous coloring 
gave a sort of unreality to this assemblage of thou- 
sands. In the innermost court, smaller than the 
rest, only a few select attendants were seated. Here 
none entered with me except my conductor, the 
Yoozbashee of yesterday. 

" Approaching a kind of pavilion, with a projecting 
verandah roof, elaborately painted in arabesques, I 
entered a side door. I passed through a small ante- 
chamber, and was conducted into a large audience 
chamber, or hall, in the middle of which, close to a 
window, was seated a solitary individual, whom I al 
once knew must be the King. I advanced alone, and 
when I drew near, he half rose on his knees and held 
out both hands to me. I grasped them in the usual 
Toorkee maimer, and at his invitation sat down op- 
posite him. Then, as is the custom, I rose again to 
ask after his health ; he would not let me do so, but 
motioned to me to sit, drawing me nearer to himself. 
He began inquiring after my health, and hoping my 
journey had been comfortably performed, to which I 
replied, excusing myself for my bad Persian, which, 
however, he smilingly declai'ed was quite comprehen- 
sible. Then ensued a silence of about a minute, each 
waiting for the other to speak (this is a polite eti- 
quette). Finally he commenced again by a remark 



206 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

about the weather (English-like). I responded and 
went on to to say that my countrymen had heard with 
the greatest pleasure that the brothers of our friends, 
tlie Sultan of Room and his people, had established 
a kingdom in Toorkistan in place of the Chinese, with 
whom we had already had three wars. For myself I 
said that the Lord Sahib had not sent me, nor en- 
trusted me with any letter ; but I had come of my 
own accord, attracted by the renown of his name. He 
nodded and muttered assent to all that I said, and then 
replied that he had been delighted when he heard that 
Shaw Sahib was approaching his dominions with a 
friendly purpose. As for the Lord Sahib (the Yiceroy 
of India), he was very great, and he himself was small 
in comparison. I answered, ' The Yiceroy is very 
great, but our Queen, his mistress, is greater.' At this 
he stared. 

"I continued that I hoped for the establishment 
of friendship between our nations, and that between 
friends there was no question of greater or smaller. 
He said, ' And you yourself, did you not send me a 
letter ? ' I replied, ^ Yes ; I sent one by the hand of 
my agent to Yarkand, but he had no opportunity of 
delivering it to you ; therefore I have now presented 
it with my gifts.' I then said that I had brought a 
few specimens of English rifles, etc., for him, and 
hoped he would accept them and pardon any deficien- 
cies. He laughed, and said, ' What need is there of 
presents between j^ou and me ? we are already friends, 
and your safe arrival has been sufficient satisfaction 
to me.' With this he crooked his two foi'efingers to- 
gether to typify our friendship. I said that I hoped 



DETENTION AT KASHGAR 207 

to have some further conversation with him, but that 
on the present occasion he was probably not at leisure, 
and there was also no interpreter present to make up 
for my deficiencies in Persian. He replied, ' Between 
yon and me no third person is requisite ; friendship 
requires no interpreter,' and he stretched his hand 
over, and gave mine a hearty grasp. Then lie added, 
' Now enjoy yourself for a few days, and see all the 
sights ; consider this place and all it contains as yonr 
own, and on the third day we will have another talk ; 
you shall bring your agent with you, and talk with me 
for an hour ; after that we will meet oftener, and so 
our friendship will be increased.' 

" Then he called to an attendant, who brought in 
a pink satin robe, and the King dismissed me very 
graciously after the robe had been put on me. I re- 
joined my conductor at the gateway of the inner 
court, and returned home through the same brilliant 
assemblage. At each successive gateway my party 
was swollen by the accession of those who had been 
left behind there as not worthy to proceed farther 
with me. On reaching ra}^ own door, my conductors 
left me, each wishing me ' moobarak,' or ' happy,' to 
which I returned the proper answer of 'koolligh,' or 
' your servant.' 

" Before starting for this visit, I had been much 
put out by my agent not being allowed to accompany 
me. The officials also told me that, whatever I had 
to say to the King, I must say now, as the King was 
very great, and I should have no further opportunity 
of speaking to him. I, however, determined that I 
would not attempt this, as it was impossible at a 



208 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

first visit to say properly all that I wished to say, 
even were an interpreter provided. I therefore re- 
solved only to request a farther interview, and as you 
see this was the proper course, and the King evi- 
dently expected it. Had I begun a long discourse, I 
should not have made myself understood, to begin 
with, and, moreover, should have trespassed on the 
etiquette of a first interview. I cannot think what was 
the reason of my being told otherwise by the ofiicials. 

" During the day, we began to perceive many 
marks of neglect on the part of those who were 
charged with our entertainment. Supplies of all 
kinds were either not to be got, or were scantily fur- 
nished to the servants, after much asking. No ofii- 
cial came to inquire after our wants. We could not 
help comparing tliis treatment with that of the Shag- 
hawal, and regretting our Yarkand quarters. Here 
we were all, masters and men, crowded into one 
court. Then, my house alone consisted of three 
courts, and the agent and his servants had separate 
quarters. I was also annoyed by the constant run- 
ning to and fro of boys and servants to a room full 
of stores at the end of the court. There was no 
privacy whatever. 

"At last, my displeasure culminated w^hen I saw 
one of my servants approaching with a tray full of 
bread, which had been served out to him instead of 
the usual ' dastar-khan,' presented by the proper of- 
ficial, and put before me with proper ceremony. Of 
course, the thing was a mere trifle in itself; but in 
the East, want of respect is a precursor of danger. I 
resolved to stop it if I could, and ordered the man tp 



DETENTION AT KASHGAR 209 

put the tray down outside my door, and to tell any 
one tliat asked about it that I did not want it. My 
Yarkand interpreted, Jooma (for it was he), stood 
aghast at the order, and told me he dared not do it, 
as it would be considered a dreadful insult by the 
King. I reassured him, and made him do as I said. 
Then my Moonshee came with a scared face, and 
begged me to take in the tray. Jooma went away 
and hid himself in the kitchen, until the storm 
should blow over. Soon my move began to pro- 
duce its effect. Officials went and came, looking 
at the rejected tray, and then hastening out. At 
last they approached and carried it off. Then ar- 
rived the ' Sirkar ' (or comptroller of the household), 
an official in charge of all the royal stores. He went 
and sat down by my agent, and made a long apology, 
saying that on account of the great festival of the 
Eed to-morrow he had been unable to pay me proper 
attention, and those whose duty it was had neglected 
their charge. Then he entered my room and spread 
the cloth himself in front of me, putting on it a 
number of trays containing fruits and preserves of 
all sorts, brought by the attendants who remained 
outside. He then stood with folded hands until I 
broke and ate a piece of bread as a token of accept- 
ance. No sooner was he gone than the bleating of a 
sheep was heard. It was a second one for my Moon- 
shee, one having been given me in the morning as 
usual. Presently, although it was now dark, supplies 
of all soi'ts came pouring in in profusion — loads of 
wood, bundles of hay, rice, corn, in fact, all that had 
been before kept back. 



210 TRAVELS JiY CENTRAL ASIA 

" After dinner the Yoozbashee came in and begged 
nie not to be angry at any apparent neglect ; saying 
that the number of people collected for the festival 
created the greatest confusion, and that, if the King 
heard of any misunderstanding, it would cost the 
lives of several officials. I replied, ' I do not feel 
the least anger ; on the contrarj^, I am very grateful 
to the King for all his kindness.' He said, ' I am 
only speaking about the future, and hope you will 
make allowances for any want of due attention. 
After further conversation, he went away, but I 
learnt that he had previously spoken his mind in 
strong terms to the culpable officials, telling them 
that he had not brought the roj^al gnest so far, with 
such care, merely to be offended by their gross neg- 
lect, and that the honors bestowed on me by the 
King were not to be made of no avail by them. 
Later in the evening the penitent Sirkar came and 
sat down b}^ my fii'e for a talk, begging pardon at 
the same time for the intrusion. I told him I was 
delighted to see him there ; and now, my point being 
gained, I w^as all smiles, gave him tea and sweet- 
meats, and dismissed him with friendly woi-ds. 

" So ended my first and, I hope, my last encounter 
with the Atalik-Gliazee's* servants. I have come to 
the conclusion that the King had given orders for 
every attention to be paid to us ; but being engrossed 
by state affairs, he is not able to bestow that atten- 
tion on details which the Governor does. Greedy 
officials are thus enabled to intercept for their own 

* Atalik-Ghazee is the title assumed by the King Yakoob Beg. 
It means Tutor or Leader of the Champions of the Faith. 




KING YAKOOB BEG. 



DETENTION AT KASHGAR 211 

benefit the favors intended for the guest. Another 
explanation, however, niaj be the true one. The 
Shaghawal may have exceeded the measure of honor 
and attention ordered to be paid to me by the King. 
Ambitious aims or the desire to secure a friendly 
place of refuge in case of necessity, may have induced 
> him to exhibit his own especial regard for the English. 
But this still leaves the fact unexplained that my pub- 
lic reception here is conducted with more eclat than 
it was at Yarkand, while in private matters, to which 
the King's eye cannot reach, my comfort is less con- 
sulted." 

The next day Shaw began to reap the fruits of his 
victory. Everything was supplied in abundance, and 
twice in the day a hot dish (the first of macaroni soup, 
the second of mutton and rice) was brought to him 
from the royal kitchen. In the morning a present of 
half a dozen pheasants and wild duck arrived from 
the King. In every other respect, however, Shaw 
was restricted, and, under the circumstances, he did 
not venture to make any protest. On the 14th he 
writes : 

" I am settling down into the former prison life that 
I led at Yarkand. Although the King told me to go 
about and anmse myself, yet I am half afraid that it 
was only a figure of speech, and at any rate it is wiser 
not to excite suspicion by being too anxious to take 
advantage of the permission. But you can fancy that 
it is rather difficult to get through the day without 
books (for all mine I have read through a hundred 
times). The talk of my Guddees is amusing ; Choom- 
aroo, especially, has a hundred anecdotes to relate, 



212 TRAVELS m CENTRAL ASIA 

with shrewd remarks on every occurrence. Every- 
one that goes out brings in some news of the outer 
world, which he contributes to the common stock of 
conversation. The discovery of a new row of shops, 
or of a fresh gateway, furnishes talk for an hour, 
while a meeting with one of the Indian sepoys who 
have taken service here, is hailed like the periodical 
arrival of the mail steamer in some dull colony. We 
linger reluctantly over each topic ; we wring out of it 
each drop of subject-matter which it will afford. We 
return to it again and again, like a dog to a bone 
which he has already gnawed clean. Meanwhile I 
pace up and down the verandah, the only exercise 
that I can obtain. At any sign of animated conver- 
sation, a raised voice, or a laugh, half a dozen faces 
peer out of as many doors all round the court, like 
marmots at their holes. To the Mussulmans their 
devotions are a great resource. The washings of 
face, arms, hands, and feet, the undressing to do this, 
and the dressing again afterward, the spreading a clotli 
to prostrate themselves on, and, finally, the varied pos- 
tures required during the prayers — all these help to 
pass the time." 

The next day he received a message to the effect 
that the King had inquired very kindly after him, 
and had said : " Go and tell Shaw Sahib that I am 
loaded with business at present, but hope, in a daj^ 
or two, to have time for a long talk with him. Tell 
him not to be impatient at the dela}^, for I look 
upon him in the light of a friend." Shaw sent back 
word that he was much obliged to the King for put- 
ting off their interview until the latter had more 



DETENTION AT KASHQAR 213 

time, as what he wished to say could not be said in a 
huiTj. He added tliat lie was ready to wait any num- 
ber of days, so that in the end there might be full 
leisure for all his business. 

Shaw's subsequent experience showed him that his 
answer was accepted literally, and with all the Orien- 
tal disregard of time. We quote from his journal, 
January 20tli : " During the visit of the Yoozba- 
shee and the master of ceremonies, the hot dishes ar- 
rived from the King's kitchen. I invited the guests 
to join us, and we made an impromptu meal, a la 
Toorkee. The three commenced operations on the 
huge dish with their fingers, while I sat on my chaii*, 
and used a separate plate and knife and fork, to their 
great admiration. Their delight is to use one of my 
spoons to stir their tea with. When i\\Qy had finished, 
I had some grapes put before them, but they raised 
cries of horror, saying, ' How can we eat them now, 
after meat ? ' They seemed as much astonished as 
English people would be were the soup served after 
dessert. I explained our custom in this respect, but 
thej^ thought it quite barbarous. They explained 
their theory on the subject. Put into European phrase- 
ology, it was this : that eating meat before fruit was 
like sending a heavy goods train down a line in front 
of a fast express : the fruit being more quickly di- 
gestible than the meat, and therefore proper to be 
eaten first. 

"Hitherto the servants have been allowed to go 
out of doors at will. To-day most of them were 
turned back, and told to stay within the four walls. 
My agent asked me the story of the prisoners in Abj^s- 



214 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

sinia, apparently considering ours a parallel case. I 
cannot say that we feel much anxiety, however, 
though this kind of imprisonment is annoying, as 
well as ridiculous. 

" I learn that the price of cotton here is about one 
tanga per jing, or three tangas for four pounds, 
which equals Zd. per pound ! 

" Wednesday^ January 20th. — For several days 
past the Yoozbashee has not come to see me. To- 
day I sent to inquire after him, and he sent me back 
many salaams, with a message, saying that he was 
most desirous of visiting me, but these rascals (mean- 
ing the King's officers in attendance) kept such a 
watch on him that he was afraid to come. 

''January 22(i. — This morning the Governor ar- 
rived from Yarkand. He was received, as I was, by 
soldiers lining the gateways and approaches, and 
went to pay his respects to the King at once. At the 
same time he presented a nazar, or gift, consisting of 
one hundred ' koors ' of silver (£1,700), and thirty 
horses, mounted by as many slaves, fully armed and 
equipped from head to foot, with four changes of 
clothing a-piece. Besides these, there were numer- 
ous minor gifts. He himself rode a splendid horse, 
with housings mounted with turquoises, and saddle- 
cloth of gold brocade. The Yoozbashee rode out as 
far as Yepchang to meet him, and came to see me 
about one o'clock, after being dismissed by the King. 
He said he was famished, having started long before 
daybreak without any food. I made him stop and 
join me in a huge pilau, a great part of which he de- 
voured. 



DETENTION AT KASHGAB 215 

" The Governor sent me many kind messages of 
inquiry, and said he had heard how tired I was of 
confinement (for yesterday, sick of this life, I had 
poured forth my complaints into the sympathizing 
ears of the Yoozbashee, who tried to pacify me by 
saying that I was too great a man to go about the 
place like a common person ; but at the same time he 
evidently thought my desire for a little open air only 
reasonable). The Governor told me to have patience 
for a little longer, that everything should be arranged 
to my satisfaction, and I should go back with him 
to Yarkand, when he returned. The Yoozbashee 
affects mystery, and does not mention the Govern- 
or's name when the other attendants are present. 
Whether the Governor's friendliness toward me is 
in excess of the King's orders and concealed from his 
knowledge, I know not; but he evidently wants me 
to believe so. 

" I have had some Indian dumb-bells made to pass 
the time with. To-day the Yoozbashee saw them, 
and asked their use. He was nmch pleased with the 
exercise they afford, and said it was fine training for 
the arms. He tried them himself, in imitation of me, 
but never having handled them before, of course could 
not keep up the play long. I then showed him some 
other tricks and exercises, such as rising from the 
ground on one leg, without help from the other, etc. 
He tried them all, and showed great activity in these 
novel amusements. 

" He says they have earthquakes at Yarkand and 
Kashgar two or three times a year ; but last year, at 
Yepchang, for eight months together, there were 



216 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

shocks two or three times a day. All the houses 
were shaken to pieces, and have had to be rebuilt. 
The shocks did not extend beyond the immediate 
neiorhborhood of the villao^e." 

Shaw's account of his life in Kashgar is given in 
the form of a journal. The entries of many days 
are simply notes of what occurred in his household, 
and are of no general interest. We will therefore 
only take such particulars as relate to his intercourse 
with the King and the chief authorities, or which 
give some information concerning the countrj^ and its 
people. On January 29th, he says : " My Thibetan 
servant Jooma has confirmed an opinion which has 
been strengthening in my mind ever since I have 
been in Toorkistan. He declares that until this year, 
the people of this countiy, and its rulers, had no idea 
of the British dominion in India. The name of Frank 
was not even mentioned, except as belonging to a 
people who had been fighting with the Chinese, and 
who had some possessions far away in the south. 
The Maharaja of Cashmere was the great potentate 
whom they heard of on their borders. Every trader 
who came from Ladak was reckoned a Cashmere 
subject, and was put under the authority of the Cash- 
mere Akskal, or consul, Ahmed Shah. The Indian 
merchants dared not give any other account of them- 
selves, partly from fear of the Yarkand authorities, 
who might have detained them, but chiefiy on ac- 
count of the Cashmere authorities, by whose favor 
alone they had access to the Ladak market. The re- 
duction of duties last year at Ladak was such an 
unusual thing for a native sovereign that it attracted 



DETENTION AT KASHGAR 217 

attention, md it was rumored that tlie English had ta- 
ken Thibet. My arrival this year, and afterward that 
of Hay ward, and the accounts given regarding the Ma- 
araja by myself and my servants, wlioare under no re- 
straints, have convinced the autliorities here that the 
English power is paramount in India. Until last year, 
they do not seem to have known of its existence there, 
but sent an envoy to the Maharaja of "Cashmere and 
Delhi." So new is the notion to them that they now 
call all British subjects Franks. The mistakes occa- 
sioned by this are amusing. First came the original 
report ilmt Jive Franks, had reached Shahidoolla, 
when I and four Indian servants arrived there. 

" A few days ago the Sirkar came officially to tell 
me that another Frank (politely rendered by 'Sa- 
hib ') was approaching Kashgar with Mohammed 
Nazzar, and the King wished to know whether I was 
aware of his business, or the purpose of his coming. 
I said that I only knew_ of Hayward, and did not 
even know a third Sahib had come into the country. 
The next day the Sirkar came back to explain the 
mistake. The Frank, he said, was not an 'Inglish,' 
like myself, but a Mussulman ; in fact, it was my 
friend, the old mutineer. A dn,y or two after, the 
Governor of Yarkand arrived, l^ews was brouo;ht 
in that Hayward Sahib had arrived, also, that day. 
lie had been received by the King, and his lodging 
was appointed in a house outside the walls. Next 
day came the further reports of his sayings and do- 
ings. He had said to the King, ' Why do yon bring 
in your water for this fortress under the wall ? I 

can bring it in over the wall.' They also said that 
15 



218 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

he was quite an old man. This puzzled us ; but we 
came to the conclusion that the color of Hayward's 
beard, being light, had been mistaken for the graj- 
ness of age, as I liave several times known to be done 
in India. A couple of days afterward, Jooma in- 
quired for the officer who is in attendance on Hay- 
ward, and then it came out that neither he nor Hay- 
ward had left Yarkand." . 

Daring the greater part of February, Shaw's prin- 
cipal occupation consisted in trying to distil some 
authentic news out of the rumors and stories which 
those of his servants picked up who were allowed to 
frequent the bazaars. He was by this time satisfied 
that his own imprisonment (as it really was) indi- 
cated the intention of the King to send him back to 
Leh ; since, if his death liad been resolved upon, 
there could have been no objection to his tempoi-ary 
liberty. One of his servants, Sarda, met a native 
official, who stated to him that the King was much 
pleased with the Englishman's visit. He said that it 
was a most unusual mark of favor for the King to 
keep a stranger so long near him ; the most were sent 
away after two or three days. Sarda remarked that 
Shaw was annoyed at being kept so long in the 
house ; whereupon the official replied : " The Sahib 
iinist not think anything of that ; it is the custom of 
the country, and is universally practised with strange 
visitors ; they are never allowed to go about at will, 
and even so are rarely permitted to stay more than a 
day or two at the King's headquarters." 

On February 25th, Shaw says: "The other day 
our horses broke loose, and made their way up the 



DETENTION AT KASHGAR 219 

ramparts on to tlie wall of tlie foi-tress. They were 
caught after making half the circnit of the town. I 
pretended astonishment at their not falling over, and 
thus got a description of the wall from the Yoozba- 
shee. He paced out a distance which on measure- 
ment proved to be twelve feet, and said : ' The wall 
has a roadway on the top of that width ; on both 
sides are battlements nearly a man's height.' This 
would make the total thickness of the top about six- 
teen feet. As the wall is nearly forty feet high (as 
far as I can judge from seeing it twenty yards off), 
and slopes inward on both sides from the basement, 
the width at bottom must be over twenty feet. J^ear 
the gateway it is much thicker. 

" To-day there is a little news to write. First came 
the Sirkar with a present from the King, consisting 
of a chest full of pears from Kooche. We had some 
talk about my departure. I impressed on him the 
fact that the road becomes almost impassable when 
the streams are swollen by the melted snow a few 
weeks hence. He replied that the King was occu- 
pied in preparations for my departure. 

" In the evening the master of ceremonies was 
very communicative. In reply to questions of mine 
(brought in naturally, after I had led the conversa- 
tion round about from crickets on the hearth to 
crickets in the woods, and thence to forests in gen- 
eral, and the forests of the Kashgar mountains in 
particular), he told me that the range north of this is 
called Kakshal, and that to the south, Kizilze. The 
continuation of the Kakshal range east is called 
Moostagh, and farther east Thian-Shan. This, of 



220 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

course, we knew alreadj'. At the foot of the Kak- 
shal range is the ancient town of Artash, about 
twenty miles from Kashgar. 

" The King apparently is a most plucky soldier. 
He has eleven wounds on his body, five of which are 
from Russian bullets. While besieging Yarkand, he 
was hit in the side and in the thigh, and had several 
horses killed under him. He bound up his wounds 
with scarfs, and mentioned them to no one, bearing a 
smiling face when anyone approached, but writhing 
with pain when unobserved. The master of cere- 
monies was there as usual in personal attendance on 
him, w^tli nine other Mahrams wdio accompanied him 
to the field. ' While the King was thus concealing 
his wounds,' says the master of ceremonies, ' I, who 
liad received a scratch on the face' (of which he 
showed us the mark) 'from a Toonganee spear, was 
lying groaning night and day in my tent. When no 
one was near, I sat up drinking tea, but when any- 
one came in, I was rolling on the floor with pain. 
As fast as the wound healed, I tore it open again, 
and if the siege had lasted two years, I believe I 
should have kept it open all that time. I had no 
mind to go out again among the bullets. One had 
struck the high pommel of my saddle, and another 
had broken the clasp of my belt. I reflected that if 
it had been one of these instead of a spear that had 
sti'uck me in the face, I should have been a dead 
man. My death would have been reported to the 
King, and he would have said, '' Allah-o-Akabar " ' 
(God is great), ' and that is all ! Ah, your bullets 
are bad tliino^s. If it w^ere not for them I should be 



DETENTION AT KASHGAR 221 

a brave man. The King does not care for his life, 
but I care for mine. While I lay there wounded, I 
had two hearts ' (which he illustrated by holding out 
two fingers). ' One said, " Go out to fight ; " the 
other said, " Lie here in peace ! " At night the 
former lieart ' (pulling his forefinger) ' was victorious, 
but when morning came, I always listened to that 
which told me to lie still. The King gave me a 
Icoors, and a brocade robe for my wound, but he did 
not heed his own at all.' " 

On March 1st, the orphan boy, whom Shaw had 
brought with him from the Himalayas, was sent for 
to be given into the care of Nyaz Beg, Governor of 
Khoten. The King sent many messages of thanks, 
etc., and the boy and his goods were carried off by 
the Sirkar. They said the boy will be kept under 
the charge of the Governor till he grows up, when 
his goods will be given to him. Meanwhile, his 
brother is to be allowed to see him occasionally, but 
not to touch his property. He will be brought up 
with the two sons of the Beg, who are about his age. 

On March 6th, Shaw was officially informed of 
Hay ward's arrival in Kashgar, and on the 11th he 
writes as follows : " As usual, much time was spent in 
listening to rumors and scraps of information, fur- 
nished by my servants and the officials, out of which 
I try to build up some grounds of hope for a speedy 
release and leave to depart. Some say we shall be 
kept another month ; others that we shall start in 
three days. I told the Yoozbashee to-day, that in 
my country even prisoners had their complaints for- 
warded to the proper authorities ; but that here, no 



222 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

one would even take a letter for me to the King. In 
reply he, as usual, invented a number of stories — all 
lies — to explain the conduct of the King. 

" To-day came a long and interesting letter from 
Hayward. The account I heard of his warlike dem- 
onstration at Yarkand appears to have been a great 
exaggeration. In the first part of his letter, written 
at Yarkand, he praises the hospitality of the Toorks, 
and says he shall carry away pleasant recollections of 
the country ; in the second part, written at Kashgar, 
he is inclined to think the King the greatest rascal in 
Asia. Apparently, he made a veiy laborious trip up 
and down the Yarkand rivers, with valuable results. 

'■^ I am more than ever convinced now that the Ata- 
lik-Ghazee is 'exploiting' me for the benefit of sub- 
jects and neighbors as an English envoy. He knows 
perfectly well himself that I am not so, as I have re- 
peatedly told both him and the Governor of Yarkand 
tliat I am not sent by Government, and they have as- 
sented, saying that they knew this before. But for all 
that they wish the world to be misled on the subject. 
Hence all this parading of me about the country, and 
the assembling several thousands to line the approach 
when I went to visit him. This also, I believe, is the 
reason why my letter sent by my agent, asking per- 
mission to come, was detained till I could deliver it 
myself, a dreadful solecism otherwise, for the favor 
which it requested had already been granted. But 
the parade of the gold casket and ornamented papers 
presented in state was what they cared for. 

" The master of ceremonies says some years ago 
the Russians asked the Chinese to sell them a few 



DETENTION AT KASHGAB 223 

acres or land in a desert at the foot of a mountain. 
The Cliinese were glad enough to get 500 yamboos 
for such a spot, but within a year they saw a fortress 
rising on it. From this centre the Russians have ex- 
tended in all directions, while the Chinese watched 
them with their fingers in their mouths ! The for- 
tress is Ahnatee or Yernoje." 

On the 20th of March, Shaw's Moonshee, or agent, 
was taken to see the King, who received him in a cor- 
dial but condescending way, and said, " Sit down, and 
pray for me." Thereupon the Moonshee repeated some 
formal prayers in Arabic to the effect that the King's 
rule might be to the profit of himself and Islam ; and 
the King replied, '' With God's blessing, with God's 
blessing!" ''After a few more civil words, he was 
taken into another room and presented with a robe 
and ' dastar-khan,' and afterward led to the inner 
gateway to make a distant farewell salutation to the 
King. It is the custom of the country, after receiving 
a robe, to wear it outside the rest of one's clothes for 
three days ; and, after receiving a turban, to wear it 
without tucking up the ends for the same period." 

Toward the end of March, Shaw received a smug- 
gled note from Hayward, in which the latter ex- 
pressed his fears that they would both be put to death. 
Shaw still retained his first impression, that their con- 
finement denoted an ultimate release, and sent back a 
letter in which he explained his grounds of belief. 
The servants were no longer confined to the house as 
at first, and the bearing of the officials was still very 
friendly and encouraging. One of the men, Jooma, 
was even allowed to visit the Old City of Kashgar, 



224 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

which he reported to be larger than Yarkand, and 
crowded with inhabitants. It has five gates : tlie 
stables for animals are underground, and all the 
houses have upper stories. 

On the 1st of April, Shaw writes : " The Chief 
Jemadar says that the King will start for Yang-hissar 
in six days' time. He has been ordered to follow 
three or four days later, bringing us with him. The 
Jemadar added, ' Many other oificers could have 
brought you along, but I fancy he thinks you will be 
under less restraint with me.' 

"I hear from other quarters also that the Atalik 
starts in six days. 

"The Yoozbasbee propounded a theory, that at 
this season a great part of the strength of men goes 
into the trees, to enable them to shoot and bear leaves 
and fruit. After the first season the strength leaves 
the trees, and comes back into men. Hence men at 
this present season are languid and limp." 

Two days later, " The Yoozbashee was talking about 
everything being God's work, and why was I impa- 
tient ? 1 replied, ' My impatience is God's work also.' 
This he seemed to consider a poser. I also said, 
'What I regret is this, that out of the fixed number 
of years which God has appointed me to live, I have 
just lost entirely three months, which are as it were 
wiped out of my existence, and cannot be replaced. 
He replied, ' Ko, no, they are not lost ; you will see 
that your residence here has been productive of very 
important results, and then you will look upon these 
three months as one day.' " 

The period of deliverance was really at hand. 



DETENTION AT KA8HGAR 225 

After so many rumors, and tliree montlis of close de- 
tention, there was a sudden change in his treatment. 
" On the afternoon of the 5th of April," he writes, 
*' the Sirkar came and announced that either a hisr 
officer would be sent to communicate with me or else 
I should be taken myself to see the King. I an- 
swered, * I am pleased with either course, whicheyer 
the Atalik-Ghazee orders.' After a few minutes, the 
Sirkar said, ' Get yourself ready, for you will be sent 
for this evening.' I suppose liis first announcement 
was intended to try me. 

" Wlien he was gone, I got ready two guns (the 
only ones I had left), to present as a 'nazar,' by the 
Yoozbashee's advice. I know they had coveted these 
two guns ever since I have been in the country, as 
they knew they were those I kept for my own use. 
English-made fire-arms are not so common in this 
country that they can let any leave it. 

" About eight o'clock in the evening I was fetched. 
They took me to the opposite corner of the great 
square before the palace, and then by a side street to 
a big gateway, with a row of guns standing on each 
side. Opening the gate, we passed through \\\Qcorjps 
de garde and into a square, lighted with Chinese lan- 
terns. Opposite was a kind of pavilion, with walls 
of open work, which, lighted up from the inside, had 
a pretty effect. My conductor left me at the foot of 
a flight of steps leading up into the pavilion. I went 
up alone, and entered the room. Tn a corner was 
sitting the Atalik-Ghazee, close to an opening in the 
trellis. He held out his hands to welcome me, and 
placed me opposite him, telling me to sit down com- 



226 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

fortably (for I had, of course, taken the excruciating 
sitting posture usual in Toorkistan). After the usual 
inquiries after health, etc., he called for an inter- 
preter, a Hindoostanee Jemadar, who came and stood 
below the window at which we were sitting. I can- 
not attempt to give the whole of our conversation, 
for I sat there more than an hour talking and being 
talked to. But the chief points are the following : 
The King began by saying that he felt highly honored 
by my visit to his country ; that he was very inferior 
in power and dignity to the English : only so big 
(showing the tip of his little finger) in comparison 
with the Malika Padishah (the Queen).* I replied, 
I hoped there might be friendship established between 
the two countries as there is between the Sultan of 
Room (Turkey) and the English, and that between 
friends one does not consider inequality (you will say 
this answer of mine was a stale one, having been 
given before, but remember the statement which drew 
it forth was stale also). He said, ' God grant it,' and 
then went on to say tliat I was his brother, that all 
his subjects were my servants, and that when neigh- 
boring nations heard of my coming to him (he men- 
tioned Kussia and Khokand by name), his honor 
would be greatly increased. I answered that I had 
not been sent either by the Queen or the Lord Sahib 
(the Viceroy), but had merely come of my own ac- 
cord, hearing his renown ; that the only use I could 
be of was by giving him information as to my own 

* I noticed that now lie seemed to know all about the Queen, 
whereas in my first interview it was all the " Lord Pasbah," or 
Viceroy of India. He has profited by his lessons. 



DETENTION AT KA8HGAR 227 

land and sovereign, with whose affairs I was, of 
course, acquainted. (I noticed that the interpreter 
sank his voice almost to a whisper in translating all 
this.) 

" The King replied that I was his brother, etc., and 
paid me many compliments, saying he had never 
seen an Englishman before, though he had heard 
much of their power and truthfulness. He added 
that he was convinced that from them could proceed 
nothing hurtful to himself, but rather good. He 
then said, ' I consider you my brother ; whatever 
course you advise, I will take. I am thinking of 
sending an envoy to your country. What is your 
advice ? ' I said, ' Your intention is most excellent, 
and it is most desirable that an envoy should go.' 
He then replied, 'I will send the envoy, and give 
him a letter to the Lord Sahib, asking him to send 
him on to the Queen.' I replied, ' That is the very 
best plan.' He said, ' Well, now about the time ; 
when should he go ? ' I said, ' That is as you please ; 
either send him with me, or before me, or after me, 
but I advise that what is done should be done quickly.' 
He said, ' Of course ; my envoy will go with you, 
and as yon think he ought to go soon, I will only 
keep you here three days more, then you shall go to 
Yarkand, and I will put him under your charge 
either at Yang-hissar or at Yarkand.' I said, ' Yery 
good ; and if it is your order, I will then explain to 
him all that he may expect to be asked, and other 
things which you probably have not leisure to hear 
from me, and he can then obtain your orders on 
these subjects, lest when he gets to the presence of 



228 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

our rulers, he should find himself unable to give an 
answer.' He replied, ' Do so, by all means. We will 
have another talk together to-morrow evening, and 
again at Yang-hissar, where I shall go after visiting 
the Mazar (a Mussulman shrine). I will also send 
a man ' (I caught the word ' pisar,' or son, but the 
interpreter did not say so), ' who shall come and go 
between you and me, and through whom we can com- 
municate ; when he comes, let no one be present but 
your two selves. Send all your servants out of the 
way, and whatever passes between us, keep it secret 
till you re-enter your own country.' I promised to 
do so. He said, ' The Queen of England is like the 
sun, which warms everything it shines upon. I am 
in the cold, and desire that some of its rays should 
fall upon me. I am very small — a man of yesterday. 
In these few years Grod has given me this great coun- 
try. It is a great honor for me that you have come. 
I count upon you to help me in your own country. 
Whatever services I can render you here, you may 
command, and you must do the same forme. Come, 
what report will you give of me when you get back ? * 
I said, ' I shall tell them that the renown of you that 
has reached India is but half of what I have found 
the facts to be.' He laughed, and stretched out his 
hand to shake mine. Then he said, ^ You must keep 
on sending a servant of your own with merchandise 
to Toorkistan. Whether the Malika sends me an en- 
voy or no, that she will decide, but your own special 
agent must come and go. Will you send one yearly ? ' 
I replied, ' If I have your permission, I will certainly 
do so.' He said, ' That is right. Send all sorts of 



DETENTION AT KASHGAR 229 

merchandise by liim, and send a letter to me, asking 
for whatever you want. You may always command 
me, and the arrival of your letter will be as wealth to 
me.' I said, ' I trust by that means I shall be able to 
receive frequent intelligence of your well-being and 
prosperity. That will be my greatest pleasure. I 
trust that your kingdom may be established for hun- 
dreds of years.' 

"After more of this style of conversation, and 
drinking my tea, he called for a robe to be put on 
me ; but after I had received it, he again made me 
sit down, and repeated some of his previous speeches, 
saying, * Az barae Khooda ' (Before God), ' I mean 
all that I say. I am a Mussulman, and will not stir 
from my engagements.' Finally I was let go, and 
the King's son appeared, and conducted me as far as 
the outer gateway. Toward the latter part of the 
time, the interpreter apparently thought I did not ap- 
pear grateful enough for the honor and compliments 
bestowed on me. He kept on saying, in Hindoo- 
stanee, ' Consider what this great prince is saying to 
you ; he has never said so much to anyone before.' 
I don't know w^hether he expected me to stand up and 
say ' Allah-o-Akabar,' or perform any other ceremony 
of that sort ; but the King evidently did not, for ho 
stopped the interpreter, and told him to say only what 
he was ordered. 

" On coming out I was assailed with wishes of 
* Moobarak' by all my attendants, who all came and 
sat with me, to hear the result of my visit to the 
King. 

" The next morning the Sirkar brought me as a 



280 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

parting present from the King bags of gold and sil- 
ver yamboos, and some gold-dnst in paper, sajing 
they were for my private expenses. I estimate their 
value at about £690. Presently he reappeared, with 
about £45 of silver for the agent. Again, he brought 
me a robe of crimson satin, gorgeous with gold and 
embroidery, and a high velvet cap, and other robes 
for myself, the agent, and all the servants. Soon 
after arrived a horse, with handsome trappings, whose 
bridle was put into my hand, while blessings were 
invoked with outstretched arms. This evening I have 
again been taken to see the King. Everything as be- 
fore, except that my agent was allowed to come into 
the court after I was seated, and say a distant salaam, 
to which the King responded from his window, with a 
muttered ' O aleikoom as-salaam,' stroking his beard, 
and adding, ' he is a good man, poor fellow ' (' be- 
cliara,' a patronizing term of friendship). As before, 
his conversation fell chiefly on his own insignificance 
compared with our Queen, ' Huler of the seven climes,' 
as he called her. He enlarged on his desire of friend- 
ship with England, but chiefly on his special friend- 
ship for me, saying that, when he saw my face, God 
put it into his mind to take it for a good omen for 
himself. 

" I replied that his kindness was overpowering, and 
that, as I myself was too insignificant to deserve it, I 
took it all as meant for my sovereign and nation. He 
took me to refer to the presents he had sent me in the 
morning, and said, ' No, no, it is all for yourself in 
particular, on account of the private friendship I have 
formed for you. For your Queen I mean to prepare 



DETENTION AT KASHOAR 231 

some fitting gifts, and as you are my friend, and I am 
ignorant of the customs of your countrj^, I count on 
you to tell me what is proper to be sent to her. She 
is very great, and I am very little ; I conceal nothing 
from you ; you know the state of my country ; it pro- 
duces notliing but felts, and such like things' (laugh- 
ing, and pointing to the matting of the floor), ' so you 
must give me advice.' I said, ' Friendship is the most 
vahiable gift that kings can give one another ; but if 
I can be of any use in giving advice, I am at your ser- 
vice.' He said, ' I count on you for this. When we 
meet at Yang-hissar, we will arrange alL Here I am 
oppressed with business. There are people here from 
Russia (?), from Khokand, from Bokhara, and from' 
all quarters. But I purpose to go to Yang-hissar, and 
throw off business like an extra robe, and then we will 
talk much together. Whatever advice you give me I 
will follow down to the least point ' (showing the tip 
of his fingers), ' whether about writing letters, or send- 
ing envoys, or doing anything.' 

'' I replied, ' The plan of sending an envoy proceeds 
from your own counsel and wisdom ; but if in the exe- 
cution of it I can be of the least service, from my 
knowledge of English customs, etc., that is what I 
most desire.' Then, counting on his fingers, he said, 
' To-morrow is Char-Shamba, next da}'^ Pan j -Sham ba, 
and the day after Friday. I shall start for Yang-hissar, 
leaving my son here. Stay with him a couple of days 
(my country, and all my subjects are yours), and on 
Friday come to meet me at Yang-hissar. I have a 
great affection for that place, as it was the first town 
I took in this country, and I intend to pay my devotion 



232 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

at the siirine there. We will arrange all matters there, 
and I will send with you two or three men of rank and 
wisdom. They shall carry you in the palms of their 
hands till you leave my country, and then go with you 
to your own country.' 

" After further talk, he said, * I feel great shame 
because an Englishman once before came to this coun- 
try, and was murdered by a robber, one Walle Khan, 
who was then here.' I replied, ' We know that you had 
no hand in it, and do not throw the blame on you. 
The traveller you speak of was not an Englishman, 
but a German ; but still we felt much grieved at his 
death, for he was a guest of ours in India, whence he 
came to Toorkistan.' He went on to say, holding up 
six fingers, ' There ! that is just the number of years 
that I have been in power ; before then 1 was nobody.' 
I answered, * Those kings who succeed to thrones by 
right of birth obtain their power by no merit of their 
own. But those who, like Timoor and Sikandar 
(Tamerlane and Alexander), obtain great kingdoms 
by their own deeds, are looked upon with admiration.' 
The king clutched his robe (a la Toorkee), and said, 
'May God make your words true.' (You will say I 
am wonderfully sententious, but that is the custom of 
the country. Tupper would be a great literary char- 
acter here.) 

"Again, the Atalik said, ' Another Englishman 
came to Yarkand ; do you know who he is ? I said, 
' I met an Englishman in Thibet, who asked me to 
take him with me, but 1 told him that I could not 
do so, as I had only asked permission of the King 
for myself alone to enter his country.' He answered, 



DETENTION AT KASHGAR 233 

^Well, whatever Englislunan comes, lie is welcome 
to me/ 

" After this I was allowed to go, being nearly 
stifled, from having to wear three heavy robes, one 
above the other, the gift of the King this afternoon ; 
such is the custom of the country. I forgot to say 
that wlien I entered, the King wished me ' Moobarak ' 
(or happy) on putting on the new robes. 

" I tried to give a robe of honor to the Sirkar who 
brought me my presents, but he resolutely refused to 
receive anything, saying the King would cut his 
throat if he accepted the smallest present fi'om a 
Mihman (guest). I told him to try and get permis- 
sion from the King." 

On April the 7th the King left Kashgar for 
Yang-hissar, and the same afternoon, says Shaw, 
" came a note from Haywai-d, saying that, as I am 
being allowed to depart, while nothing is said about 
his going, he anticipates that they mean to keep liim. 
I am sorr}^ to say this was rather confirmed by an 
ugly rumor that one of my servants heard to-day. 
He was told that I should now be sent back to India 
with an envoy from the Atalik-Gahzee, and that 
Hay ward would be kept as a hostage for his safe re- 
turn. 

" I immediately gave orders to Jooma to go to the 
Jemadar Dad-Khwah, who seems to have some in- 
fluence, and is also sensible and friendly. Jooma is 
to explain to him that, as long as an Englishman is 
kept here against his will, it is quite useless to ex- 
pect any good to come from sending an envoy ; and 
that, if they are not going to allow Hayward to de- 

16 



234 TRAVELS Ili CENTRAL ASIA 

part, tliey may save themselves the trouble of enter- 
ing into any communication vv^ith our Government." 
The next day the answer was returned that Shaw 
w^ould leave Kashgar on the morrow, and that Hay- 
ward would be allowed to go at the same time. 



CHAPTER XYL 

THE RETURN TO YARKAND, AND SECOND RESIDENCE 

THERE 

ON Friday, the 9th of April, 1869, Shaw was es- 
corted out of the gates of Kashgar, on his 
return journej^ He says : " We started about ten 
o'clock. Most of the servants and all the luggage 
came in two ' arabas ' (country carts). A nasty windy 
day, storms of dust and drizzling rain at intervals. ' 
The Sirkar rode out with me a little distance from the 
fortress, and then got off his horse to take his leave 
of me. I am accompanied by the red-robed Yasawal, 
and by the Sirkar's deputy, besides the Yoozbashee 
and his party. We breakfasted on getting to Yep- 
-chang, where we put up at the old place, a master of 
ceremonies having been sent on to prepare it. The 
house belongs to the head-man of Yepchang. I went 
out with Sarda to some sand-hillocks about a mile 
off, where we had a splendid view of the Kakshal 
and the Karantagh mountains to the north, and the 
gigantic snowy range to the southwest. We could 
see Kashgar fortress plainly, and took bearings till 
interrupted by fresh storms of dust. On returning, 
1 found the arabas had arrived : they are tilt carts, 
with a pair of enormous wheels, one horse in the 
shafts and two leaders attached by long traces of 
rope running through ii'on rings on the shafts, and 



236 TRAVELS US' CENTRAL ASIA 

fastened to the axle under the cart. Each horse lias a 
separate pair of traces all the way back, also separate 
pairs of reins to each. On the horses' necks is a kind 
of yoke (two parallel sticks), which are kept from the 
shoulder by large pads ; the whole effect being that 
of a horse collar, except that the yoke is thrown off 
with the traces, leaving the pads on the horse. 

" Afterward, the weather having cleared, I made 
another excursion to the sand-hills, and got more 
bearings, and a sight of the mountains all around. 
The wheat and barley were both sprouting, a couple 
of inches high. Ploughing for some other crop was 
going on, with pairs of bullocks yoked very wide 
apart. I saw a pair of horses, too, employed in har- 
rowing, or rather cl'od-crushing. Gourds with holes 
in them were stuck up in the trees, near the houses, 
for a small kind of blackbird with yellow beak to 
build in. These birds sing well, and are said to turn 
dark blue in summer. The Toorks call them Tcara- 
hooch-Tcach. I was told that Indian corn here pro- 
duces sixty-four measures of produce from one meas- 
ure of seed ; wheat and barley less. I noticed also 
some Tartar wheelbarrows, very light and handy. 

" The whole way the ground is cultivated, except- 
ing the basin of the last river, which is left in pas- 
ture. Farm-houses are dotted over the whole coun- 
try, their orchards and plantations hiding the view 
beyond a few hundred yards. There were a great 
many ' arabas ' on the road. 

" The next morning was cloudless, with white frost 
and a thin coat of ice on the wayside pools. I made 
another excursion to get a view of the mountains. 



THE RETURN TO YARKAND 237 

A perfect view all round. There are enormous 
mountains to the southwest with snow extending at 
least three-fifths of the way down from their tops. 
The northern and tlie southern ranges trend away to 
the westward, where there is an apparent opening (a 
little north of west) occupied by lower spurs, and 
where no snowy range is visible. Thus the ranges 
form a deep bay of which we cannot see the end. 
Almost immediately south of us the southern range 
culminates in a gigantic knot of peaks, and then 
turns off southward out of sight. But the nortliern 
range continues far away to the eastward till it van- 
ishes from mere distance ; a long wall of snowy 
mountains (called first 'Karantagh,' and further east 
' Mooztagh ') from which long lines of lower ridges 
run out into the plain. Over these lower ridges, and 
parallel to the higher range, runs the road to Aksoo, 
crossing as many as eight several ' cols,' or small 
passes. 

" The Yoozbashee fell ill, and came part of the 
way in an ' araba.' We stopped half-way at a vil- 
lage, and had a dastar-khan and pilao. A hot ride 
afterward into Yang-hissar. The country is even 
more cultivated than I had thought it in the winter. 
There are a few tracts of pasture. 

" Before reaching Yang-hissar they made me put 
on a crimson satin robe and velvet cap ; so I rode in 
in triumph ! I am lodged in a mosque near the fort, 
and opposite the camp of the Envoy from Kolab (one 
of the small states of Western Toorkistan). 

" My master of ceremonies, Ala Akhoond, met us 
half-way, and rode in with us. Numerous ofiacials 



238 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

seem to float in front of us, though we appear unable 
to grasp them, as it were. They disappear as soon 
as seen, and finally rejoin one's party mysteriously 
and ai'e found in one's train. They prepared every- 
thing, and ushered us into our lodging. 

At Yang-hissar, on Sunday, the 11th : " I have 
spent a much pleasanter day than for several months 
past. We seem to have re-entered the world again, 
after our long seclusion. We are living in a mosque 
just outside the gate of the fortress, and between it 
and the town, which is about a quarter of a mile ofF. 
Our mosque is raised some height above the ground, 
and, sitting on a kind of covered platform at one 
side, one can see a long way over the country. On 
one side this platform is left open, but the side op- 
posite the door of the mosque is shut in with silken 
screens, of the kind called in India ' kanats ' (which 
are generally used as the side walls of tents). Other 
' kanats ' enclose a small open space, of which the 
fourth side is formed by a row of small chambei'S, 
running at right angles from the end of the mosque. 
Tents for the servants are pitched outside, in a little 
garden by the side of a tank which belongs to the 
mosque. 

" The gate of the fort is about one hundred yards 
off, and the road leading thence to the town has been 
thronged all day with people, forming a good noisy, 
boisterous crowd, collected to see the distribution of 
the King's bounty to a lot of poor people, the maimed, 
the halt, the blind, and the professional beggars, who 
have gathered from the surrounding district. After 
gazing at nothing but bare walls for nearly three 



THE RETURN TO YARKAND 239 

months, it is indescribably pleasant to watch this 
scene of life and activity : the crowd swaying to and 
fro, the small boys skirmishing round its skirts, and 
making themselves a nuisance to the steady -going 
siglit-seers, as they do all.over the world. Not content 
witli the dust stirred up by the movements of the mul- 
titude from ground where it lies three or four inches 
deep, they swept it about with their boots, and pelted 
one another with it ; and when a ' devil ' (a small whirl- 
wind, common in India as well as here) raised its re- 
volving column of sand, they made common cause 
with it, rushing after it from all quarters, and strug- 
gling to throw their caps into the vortex, for the 
pleasure of seeing them whirled up into the air. 

"Then there are the 'faqueers,' or dervishes, in 
their tall conical caps, carrying a gourd by their side. 
More than a hundred of them sat down in a row, 
waiting for their turn in the distribution of money. 
Stragglers of these would come periodically to the 
foreigner's camp to ask for alms, and when they re- 
ceived their allowance of bread or rice, would repeat 
an Arabic prayer, with outspread hands, finishing 
with an ' Allah-o-Akabar,' as they drew them slowly 
over their face, down to the tip of their beards. One 
of them, with long elf-locks (a rare sight here), came 
and addressed me in Persian, begging, not for him- 
self, but for his horse, an uncommonly good-looking 
one, which he was leading by the bridle. I had be- 
fore heard of beggars on horseback, but had never 
seen one. Indeed, they are proverbially said to ride 
in another direction. Among the rest 1 recognized a 
most amusing young beggar whom I had seen at 



240 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

Kashgar, a small boj of four or five years old, with 
only one eye, who lisps out Arabic prayers in a most 
voluble manner, chattering away in Toorkee in the 
intervals, and interrupting himself to pick the big 
lumps of sugar, or the most tempting ' pistachio ' nuts, 
out of the things which are being poured into the skirt 
of his coat, held up for the purpose. His parents 
seem to wind him up before they send him in to beg, 
for nothing stops him in his voluble, but incompi-e- 
liensible, invocation of blessings. 

" A separate crowd is formed by the women, with 
their round black-trimmed pork-pie hats (their win- 
ter head-dress), and white head-kerchiefs. When 
they pass in front of my abode, they drop their small 
net veils over their faces. The respectable men and 
local dignitaries, when they pass, make me low rev- 
erences with folded hands, adding the usual saluta- 
tion, ' As-salam aleikoom,' never suspecting me to be 
an unbeliever, but taking me for some swell Mussul- 
man, in my silk robes and turban. There is a never- 
ending stream of horsemen going in and out of the 
fort gateway : the officials in brilliant garments with 
silver-mounted belts and swords, their guns slung 
over their shoulders ; the moollahs in loose, sober- 
colored robes ungirt at the waist, and huge white 
turbans ; grooms in high boots, taking their masters' 
horses out to exercise or water, riding one and lead- 
ing another, both in their stable clothing, which 
covers them up to their eyes, much like that of Eng- 
lish horses. 

" On the other side of my dwelling are some men at 
work making a vegetable garden, thi'owing up the 



THE RETURN TO YARKAND 241 

ground into ridges and furrows for irrigation. No 
Encrlishnian could labor harder, or do more work. 
When I sent them out some bread, etc., thej made 
low bows, and sat down together to make a meal, 
bringing out their bottle-shaped gourds full of water, 
which had been covered up bj their overcoats from 
the heat. But they made no long business of it ; 
they ate the bread, and immediately got up again to 
work, only interrupting themselves twice in the after- 
noon to say their usual prayers, prostrating them- 
selves on the newly-turned earth. 

''In the same direction also lies a walled enclosure, 
occupied by barracks, from which issued a company 
of red-coated foot-soldiers, led by a captain in blue. 
Their uniform has a very Oriental look : long robes, 
reaching below the knees, turned up with black at 
the edges and round the cuts at the sides ; wide 
trousers, the same ; and a conical cap, blue with a 
red tip : a curved scimitar at the side, hanging from 
a belt crowded with pouches and flasks. They have 
no idea of marching in any regular formation, but 
come straggling after their captain. 

" In the afternoon a horse with fine trappings 
came for the Moonshee, and he was taken awav into 
the fort to say ' Allah-o-Akabar ' to the King for it : 
which he did from a distance, as before. The saddle- 
cloth is of the Chinese silk-embroidery on cloth. 

" The next morning (the 12th) I had a parting in- 
terview with the King. I was taken into the fort, 
and through a wide street bordered with blank 
walls, to the gate of the ' Oorda.' Entering this, at 
the end of one court-yard I saw the King sitting at 



242 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

the window of a room. As usual, I was made to sit 
down opposite him, and he told me to make myself 
comfortable. The interpreter was called for, and after 
mutual inquiries after health, we had another long 
talk, which it is impossible to reproduce entirely. He 
said he was going to send an envoy with me, a Sayad 
of high degree. We should go as soon as the young 
fruits of the apricots were formed, which was the 
time when the passes were open. (I must interrupt 
myself to notice that, as the Mussulman lunar months 
run through the four seasons in a space of thirty-two 
years, they are unable to denote the seasons by the 
names of months, but have to take some operation 
of nature as a guide and a sign — either the time of 
harvest, or the ripening of certain fruit, or, as in the 
present case, the setting of the fruit.) He informed 
me that he would have messengers sent back from 
Yarkand, from Shahidoolla, from Thibet, and from 
Cashmere, to bring news of me, and of our progress. 
He then asked me, ' Shall I send a letter to the Ma- 
haraja of Cashmere? what do you advise?' and he 
leaned forward to scrutinize my face for an answer. 

" I tried to excuse mj^self from giving one, but as 
he pressed me, I replied, ' It is, of course, just as you 
wish ; but my own opinion is that great kings should 
not condescend to send letters, etc., to tributary chiefs.' 
He turned off this subject at once, saying, ' That is 
all I wished to know ; I shall send with you a man 
who will be under your orders, to send him back from 
Cashmere whenever you think fit.' He then asked 
whether he should keep a merchant as a news-writer 
at Cashmere, as he had done hitherto. I answered, 



THE RETURN TO TARKAND 243 

' Bj all means, and I liope yon will soon have a rep- 
resentative at Lahore also, through whom mutual in- 
telligence may reach us.' All this I only said after a 
great deal of restiveness, telling him first that these 
were matters beyond me, and that his own judgment 
should guide him. But he put it all upon private 
friendship, saying, ' You know all about Hindostan, 
etc., and what is the use of having a friend if he will 
not give his advice about matters that he knows ? ' 
Tlien there was more talk about the greatness of the 
Malika Sahib (the Queen), and her being like the sun, 
which warms everything that its rays fall upon (here 
the interpreter got into a mess, his Indian ideas of the 
sun being that it is an enemy to be avoided, and shade 
the chief blessing of life ; and he entangled himself 
in a metaphor about the sun casting its shade upon 
people !). The King went on to say that he w^as un- 
worthy to be the friend of such a great sovereign, but 
he hoped he might be allowed to bask in her rays. 
He desired friendly relations with us, as he was sur- 
rounded with enemies and jealous powers. 

" Again he came to the subject of his friendship 
for me. I responded, telling him that my heart was 
knit with his, and that I should tell my countrymen 
of his kindly feelings and kind treatment. He said, 
' Be sure to send some servant of yours, some Moon- 
shee or other, often to me. Write me word how you 
are, and I will send yox^ news of myself ; also, ask me 
for whatever you want from this country, it is all at 
your service.' I said I would be sure to do so, etc. 
During all this conversation he was still more friendly 
than usual, wearing a continual smile, and leaning 



244 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

over familiarly to talk to me himself in easy Persian, 
saying at every phrase, ' Makool, Shaw Sahib ? ' (' Do 
you understand 1 ') His whole manner to me is most 
2Jrevenant and friendly, putting aside all affectation 
of dignity or reserve. Finally, after tea, a robe was 
put on me, and he took quite an affectionate farewell, 
taking my hand in both of his, and holding it while 
he wished me safe home, putting me under God's 
care. Then, with outspread hands, he repeated an 
Arabic prayer for my safety and success, drawing his 
hands over his face down to the beard, with an ' Al- 
lah-o-Akabar.' The interpreter, Ghoolam Kadir, was 
sent back with me to my temporary abode, to wi-ite 
down hints for presents to our Queen, whicli he had 
made me promise to write for him. 

" I stated, vaguel}^, that things peculiar to this coun- 
try, and not very bulky, would be most acceptable 
and proper to send. So he wrote down a list of pro- 
ductions of these regions — jade, silk-stuffs, etc., etc. 
He went off, promising to be back as soon as he could, 
if possible before I started. But he did not reappear, 
and we took our departure almost immediately. We 
rode through the Bazar of Yang-hissar and so on to 
Toblok. I went out in the evening and took bearings 
of the mountains ; there is a remarkable depression 
visible from here, through which, according to Jooma, 
a pass leads to Kolab and Badakhshan." 

The further journey to Yarkand occupied only 
three days, and was made without incident. The 
country through which the}^ passed was like a garden, 
all the orchards being in blossom and the hedgerow 
trees in full leaf. 



THE RETURN TO TARKAND 245 

On entering Yarkand, Shaw relates : 

"I was led to mj former house, and there again 
had to eat of a dastar-khan, followed by nearly a 
dozen hot dishes. After this I went to see the Gov- 
ernor, and had a most friendly meeting. The Gov- 
ernor met and embraced me most cordially, with 
many expressions of joy at seeing me again, and of 
sorrow at not seeing me at Kashgar. A])to])08 of 
my visit there he related a fable. 

" Solomon, who understood the language of every 
creature, overheard the King of the Worms warning 
liis subjects against him (Solomon), and telling them 
to keep clear of him or he would crush them. Sol- 
omon summoned the Worm-King to his presence, 
and asked the reason of this misrepresentation. The 
King of the Worms replied : If they went near and 
saw thee, O Solomon, they would never again rever- 
ence me ! ' 

" At this parable, which was given without any in- 
terpretation, I laughed and answered that, although 
the Atalik-Ghazee had shown me much friendship 
and kindness, yet he (the Governor) was my first 
friend, and therefore had the precedence in my af- 
fections. 

" In the evening I had a talk with the Panjabashee 
Dada-Khan about a relic of antiquity which is said to 
exist on the road from Kashirar to Khokand. Hj 
says it is situated at a place called 'Arawan,' three 
tasli (fifteen miles) beyond Oosh, and consists of a 
flight of ancient steps hewn in the rock, and leading 
up to the mouth of a cave, with a very narrow and 
small entrance. The cave is very extensive, and ap- 



246 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

pears to be a regular labyrintli. These steps are known 
by tlie name of ' Chihil-Sitoon,' or ' the Forty Steps.' 
The natives have no traditions regarding thein, except 
that they are very ancient." 

For several days nothing of any importance oc- 
curred. Shaw was anxiously expecting news of the 
goods which he had left behind in Ladak, and concern- 
ing which such contradictory rumors had reached him 
during the winter. Ten days later, two of his servants 
who had been left in charge of the goods arrived at 
Yarkand, and reported that they had been misled by 
guides the previous autumn, some of the horses died, 
and the goods had finally been left at the foot of 
the Karakoram Pass. The hospitality of the Govern- 
ment fortunately prevented Shaw from being seriously 
inconvenienced by this neglect and delay ; yet it was 
now desirable to obtain possession of the goods, in 
order to repay the advance made to him by the Gov- 
ernor of Yarkand. 

On April 27th Hayward arrived, and soon after 
managed to send a private note to Shaw, in which 
he spoke highly of the King's kindness to him, on 
leaving Kashgar. 

On May 11th Shaw writes : " During a visit from 
the Yoozbashee, I asked him about my going, and 
represented the anxiety of my friends at my long ab- 
sence. He replied that the road was still impassable 
on account of the waters, and besides, a visit to a great 
King of the Deen-i-Islam (Mohammedan faith) could 
not be hurried over so ; it was their custom to do 
things deliberately with ' maslahat, maslahat ' (consul- 
tation and counsel). They could not send me back at 



THE RETURN TO YARKAND 247 

a season wlien I should lose all my horses on the road. 
He then drew a picture of the deliglit of my friends at 
seeing me back safe, the joy of the Lord Pashah, and 
concluded with representing a kind of war-dance by 
which they would celebrate my i-eturn ! He made me 
laugh too much to continue my complaints, which was 
of course his object. 

" This morning also the Panjabashee came and said 
he had just been told that we should start in a month's 
time, and he would go with me as far as Shahidoolla. 
We had some further talk about the horse that had 
been given me in the morning. He said the Governor 
wanted to know whether I wanted another. I an- 
swered, ' My mouth is shut, for when I ask leave to huy 
a horse, the Governor gives me one instead. There 
are several other things I wanted to buy, such as 
mules, a few horse-loads of silk as a sample, etc., but I 
am in a fix. If I buy them without asking, the Gov- 
ernor will be displeased. If I ask him, he will make 
me a present of them. So shame keeps me silent.' 
He said, ' If you will trust to me, I will arrange all 
that before you go. As for the mules, I will get them 
for you as if they were for carrying loads. You can 
give them light burdens as far as Sanjoo, and then 
take them on empty.' 

" I do not think that I have yet described the 
Toorkee manner of treating horses, which differs in 
many respects from ours. As a rule, they are kept 
saddled and tight-girt both by day and night, and 
many Toorks will not allow their horses to lie down 
at all ; saying that, if they do so, the corn settles in 
their legs and feet, and makes them lame ! So they 



248 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

tie them up short by the head. At the beginning of 
tlie day's march, before the sun is high, thej are al- 
lowed a full drink of water at the first stream, but are 
given no more during the day, or until they have been 
in several hours. On coming in from a journej^ or 
ride, the horses are first walked up and down for two 
or three hours by small boys ; after w^hich, without 
unsaddling them, or even loosing the girths, they are 
covered up from head to tail with several thick 
liorse-cloths, even in the hottest weather, and tied up 
as I have described, mei'ely taking the bit out of 
their mouths, but leaving it hanging under their 
chins. After some hours they are taken to w^ater, 
and a little hay is given them, and afterward their 
corn ; but unless it is still early, they are not cleaned 
till the next morning, as far as I have observed. At 
any rate, they are not touched till at least five or six 
hours after they have come in. 

" In cleaning, a cun-y-comb is used, but afterward, 
instead of a brush, they employ a small broom of 
twigs similar to the birchen switch formerly so famil- 
iar to schoolboys. With this they switch the horse 
all over by quick motions of the wrist; first of all, 
the reverse way of the hairs, and then the proper 
way. This little instrument is most eifective, and 
leaves the horse with a beautifully clean and glossy 
coat. The Tooi'ks are most particular about this, 
thrashing their grooms heartily if they detect the 
least neglect. The master will often test the clean- 
ness of his horse with the cuff of his white under- 
robe or shirt. He wets this a little, and rubs the 
horse's coat ; nothing will satisfy him but to be able 



THE RETURN TO TARKAND 249 

to do this without leaving the least mark on the white 
sleeve. As a rule, horses here are not shod except 
for journeys in the mountains. But I need not say 
there are no macadamized roads to batter their feet — 
the whole country, roads included, being very soft 
earth, ready to fly into dust." 

As the month of May wore on, there were signs of 
preparation for the return journe3^ On the 20th, 
Shaw reports : " This morning the Yoozbashee came 
to bring me a message from the Governor, that our 
time was now near, and our horses should be got ready 
for the journey. Everything I wanted to buy I must 
make haste and get. He concluded by appealing \o 
me to mention what presents I should like the Gov- 
ernor to give me, as he was my friend. I replied 
that, according to our customs, it was very improper 
to ask one's friends for presents, and I could not do 
so. He cried out at this, ' You are not in your own 
country now, and you must here do as we do.' I had 
some difficulty in silencing my agent, who began 
enumerating a lot of things to be given to me. How- 
ever, the Yoozbashee declared that the Governor 
would be offended if I did not mention my wishes, 
and started ofP, saying, 'Well, the Moonshee shall do 
* maslahat ' (deliberate), and tell the result afterward.' 

" He afterward met Jooma, and told him to get 
fifteen horses ready at once, as we should go in ten 
da3's. 

" Two days later, the Yoozbashee took me to see 

the Governor. We bes^an to talk about the heat of 

the weather ; he said what made it worse was that 

there was no rain to cool the air, whereas in Andijan, 
17 



250 TBAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

though it was very hot, yet frequent showers made 
it more bearable. I said, ' I fancy the climate of An- 
dijan is not unlike that of my own country, England. 
I hear there is plenty of snow there in winter, and 
plent}^ of rain in summer, as with us.' ' Just so,' he 
I'cplied, 'England is probably due west from Andi- 
jaii, and opposite it, which makes the climates simi- 
lar.' I explained that England was still farther north 
than Andijan, nearer the pole-star, which, seen from 
my country, is higher in the heavens than, from here. 
' Indeed,' he replied, with an interested air, ' I did not 
know that. Which of the seven climes is your coun- 
try in ? What is the length of the day there, sixteen 
hours ? ' I answered that we had not the same divi- 
sion into seven climes, as they had, for we divided 
the earth into five zones, so I could not tell which of 
the climes we belonged to. But on the longest day 
we have about eighteen or nineteen hours of daylight 
out of the twenty-four. He held up liis hands at 
this, and exclaimed, ' You must be on the extreme 
verge of the fifth clime.' 

" He then said, ' You are the first Englishman that 
I have ever seen, and I am the first Andijanee that 
you liave seen. I trust we shall be firm fi'iends, and 
our two nations as well. You have opened the door 
of intercourse between us ; may it never be shut.' I 
replied, ' That was the purpose for which I came, 
and as the Atalik-Ghazee bid me send my servant 
every year to Toorkistan, so I hope by that opportu- 
nity to hear every year also of your prosperity and 
good health.' He answered, ' Al-hamd-ool-Illah ' 
(Thank God) ' the door is open, and I trust it may be 



THE RETURN TO Y ARK AND 251 

as you say.' I then told him that I had now been 
absent a long while from my country, and my friends 
would be anxious about me; therefore I should bo 
glad to get leave to depart as soon as he and the King 
thought fit. He replied, ' You are our guest, and we 
cannot say to you, " Go ; " on the contrary, w^e 
should wish to keep you with us altogether. For a 
short time longer the passes will detain you ; but the 
time is near ; probably toward the end of this moon 
the road will be open. The merchants came and 
asked me to let them start and go as far as Shahi- 
doolla, to wait for the proper time to cross, but I 
would not allow them. It is not fitting that any one 
should go before you.' 

"I then motioned for the dastar-khan to be re- 
moved (which had been put before me as usual, as 
also repeated cups of tea, both to the Governor and 
myself). The usual robe was then brought in (two 
this time, one above the other), and the Governor, 
rising up when I did, said with a laugh, as I put on 
the robes, ^ We have marie quite an Andijanee of 
you ; you have taken our dress and our manners.' I 
answered, ' We have a problem, that " When you 
are in Turkey, you must do as the Turks do."' Tliis 
proverb delighted him, as he, of course, applied it to 
the Central Asia Toorks. As usual, he accompanied 
me to the door, and parted from me with a dignified 
and courteous bow. 

" I note this conversation about the climes, as 
showing the intelligence and knowledge of the man. 
For an Asiatic to be aware (without European learn- 
ing) that greater distance northward is accompanied 



252 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

bj greater disparity between the lengths of night 
and of day, is very unusual in my experience. His 
division of the world into ' climes ' seems to be regu- 
lated by the length of the longest day, and is there- 
fore pui'ely a division according to latitude, although 
arbitrary as to the number fixed upon." 

On May 27th, Hayward secretly sent Shaw his 
maps and manuscripts, as he heard that the latter 
wonld be sent off before him. But the very next 
day Shaw writes, in great joy : " The Yoozbashee 
came to state that we should start the day after to- 
morrow ! A note from Hayward saying he goes the 
same da3\ Tumult of preparations. 

"I went to see the Governor after the second 
prayer of the afternoon. On my asking whether 
there was anything he wished me to send him from 
India, he said he w^as a mere soldier, and what should 
he care for but guns ! but he desired my happiness, 
and after that he wished for guns. I sounded him 
about the proposed envoy who was to have gone 
with me, but he io;nores him altogether. He savs 
I have opened the door, and my name and friend- 
ship is engraven in his heart as on stone — that 
neither wind nor rain can efface it, and only death 
can destroy the inscription." 

And finally, on the 29th : " I am busy in prepara- 
tions. Concluded arrangements with an argoon for 
nine horses to Ladak. The Yoozbashee brought 
presents — two pieces of silk, a pair of boots, sugar, 
etc. He said that the Governor would be engaged 
to-morrow morning, so I had better wish him good- 
by through the Moonshee now. The latter went, 



THE RETURN TO TARKAND 253 

and gave the Governor mj revolver as a parting gift. 
In return the Governor said lie was my friend, and 
therefore desired as keepsakes my own pocket-knife 
and my compass ! I sent them at once ; of course 
the object was to get hold of my compass. lie does 
not know that I have another ! " 



CHAPTER XYII. 

CROSSING THE KARAKORAM PASS, AND END OF THE 

JOURNEY 

O]^ the 30tli of May, 1869, Shaw was despatched 
from Yarkaiid, not having been allowed to see 
more of the city than on his first visit. The horses 
were not ready until the middle of the afternoon, so 
only seven or eight miles were traversed. The road 
led southward through a beautiful green country, 
dotted with large farm-houses, surrounded by or- 
chards. In one of these, which had a court-yard 
covered with vines on trellis-work, they camped for 
the night. Half an hour after their arrival Hay ward 
and his escort were announced, but the latter was 
lodged in another part of the building. 

The next morning, however, the two travellers 
were allowed to meet, and thenceforth they formed 
but one party. Hayward informed Shaw that he 
liad not been permitted to enter Yarkand either go- 
ing to or returning from Kashgar, but was taken 
around the city outside of the walls. At the little 
town of Poskyam, where they stopped after a short 
day's journey, they were furnished with lodgings in- 
side the walls. In the evening a man possessed with 
a devil was brought to Shaw to be cured ! — but he 
declined to undertake so serious a case. 



CROSSING THE KARAKORAM PASS 255 

For several days the road lay tlirongli a green and 
fertile country, very beautiful to the eye. The 
marches were very short, to accommodate the con- 
venience of the native officials who still accompanied 
the travellers, but as the camping-places were usually 
farm-houses, with gardens and shaded court-yards, 
and Shaw and Hayward now took their meals to- 
gether, the journey was very agreeable. The cultiva- 
tion was rather rude, but there could be no doubt of 
the fertility of the soil and the favorable character of 
the climate. The vine grew luxuriantly everywhere, 
and the walnut and mulberry trees were of very large 
size. 

At Kargalik, where they halted three days, the 
Yoozbashee, gave them an entertainment of music and 
dancing, the band consisting of guitar, violoncello, 
dulcimer, and tamborine. At this place, on the 4th 
oi June, barley was ripening, and wheat in full ear, 
though still gj'een. Early nectarines and apricots 
were brought to the travellers. The whole country 
is irrigated from the mountain-streams, as there is 
very little rainfall. 

On the 6th, they advanced to Besharik, only one 
liour's ride, over a stony desert. The next day, how- 
ever, they made twenty-two miles, to Bora, crossing 
another stony tract, covered with rounded pebbles and 
sand, like a sea-beach. The valley-oasis of Bora was 
beautifully gi'een and fertile : maize was already two 
feet high. The valley is watered by a small stream, 
flowing through deep banks lined with reeds. Shaw 
thus records his journeys, on the 8tli and 9tli of 
June : 



256 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

" We ascended from the fertile valley of Bora to 
the barren plains which slope down from the moun- 
tains, and through which the several streams have 
cut their way, each forming a sunken oasis down 
its course. These sloping barren plains, at the foot 
of the mountains, form a peculiar feature of the 
country ; they are found also on the western side, 
when we passed through them from Kokhrabat to 
Yang-hissar. 

" After winding for twelve miles through the sand- 
liills which cover this plain, we reached the brink of 
another oasis, into which we descended to the village 
of Ooee-Taghruk. It is only about a mile above the 
village that the little ravine or valley begins to sink 
below the level of the plain, gradually increasing its 
depth till it runs between cliffs three hundred feet 
liigh, being itself about half a mile wide and beauti- 
fully cultivated. The plain is formed of water-worn 
stones (including pieces of granite) and sand, suggest- 
ing the idea of its having been the beach of some in- 
land sea, which may have covered Eastern Toorkistan 
np to the base of the mountains which surrounded it 
on three sides. The edges of this sloping beach toward 
the lower plains (or the bed of the imaginary sea), 
are cut into ravines and broken ground. These 
ravines, for the most part, contain only brushwood ; 
but such of them as extend far enough back, and 
liave their source in the mountains, form the lovely 
fertile oases of Bora, Ooee-Taghruk, Koshtak, San- 
joo, etc. It is decidedly much cooler here. No fruit 
is ripe, and the barley is still green. 

" The next day we rode on to Sanjoo. The last 



CROSSING THE KARAKORAM PASS 257 

^YQ miles we came through sandj hillocks gradually 
ascending to the brim, whence a descent of eight 
hundred or one thousand feet leads down into the 
valley of Sanjoo. We were met half down this de- 
scent by our old friends the Alam Akhoond (chief - 
priest) and two Kirghiz head-men. Dastar-khans 
were spread for us at the entrance of the cultivation. 
We rode two miles through houses and fields, down 
the valley, crossing the river. Hayward was shown 
to a place prepared for him in a garden. I was taken 
on to the house of Mohammed Bai (the old man of 
Sanjoo), where I was shown to a kind of dais, with 
carpets and a raised seat, and a tent-roof overhead. 
Tea was poured out for myself and the Yoozbashee 
by the son of old Mohammed Bai, the Kirghiz chiefs 
sitting on the edge of the carpet and receiving tea 
also. Afterward I had a visit from the Beg of 
Khoten, Mansoor Khoja, a jolly fat man, formei-ly 
Governor of Yarkand city, who fell into disgrace and 
was imprisoned for a year. He was only let out 
about six months ago. The house I lived in at Yar- 
kand had been his. He has been newly appointed 
to Sanjoo, and seems to think such an ofiice rather 
below his dignity. On my saying (in order to console 
him) that his district was of high importance, being 
the door of communication between India and Toor- 
kistan, he rejoined, ' Then I am the Ghoolam-i-Dar- 
wazah' (Slave of the Gate). He came and sat with 
me several times, and when the Yoozbashee was not 
there, he broached his grievances (begging me not 
to mention them). ' However,' he said, * I do my 
best in my present position. The late Beg (Shereef 



258 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

Khan, whom I liad seen when I passed through San- 
joo before), ' was dismissed and imprisoned for his 
tyranny. The peasants were half mined,' continued 
tlie Slave of the Gate, ' so I have been trying to set 
them up again ; borrowing money and advancing it 
to them to buy cattle, etc., with.' 

" At Sanjoo we halted a day to prepare for our 
journey and load up provisions, etc. My host (old 
Mohanrined Bai) and his sons were very polite. He 
is a rich old farmer, with a very pretty daughter. I 
saw this damsel several times when she came out of 
the house with a jar on her shoulder, and accom- 
panied by a female servant or slave, to fetch water 
for the household. She seemed to fetch far more 
jarfuls than could be necessary, and made little op- 
portunities of lingering about the doorway and look- 
ing at the English stranger and all his wonderful 
arrangements. 1 learned, afterward, that my Yooz- 
bashee was in love with this young lady (I quite ad- 
mired his taste, nothing could be prettier than her 
dark eyelashes, rosy cheeks, and dimpled chin). lie 
had asked old Mohammed Bai to give her to him in 
marriage, but the old man, said he wished his daughter 
to marry a man in his own station of life, who would 
settle down near him, and not a soldier who was al- 
waj's on horseback, at one moment on the Pamir and 
the next on the borders of China. The Yoozbashee 
hopes to persuade him, and I was astonished to see 
the alacrity with which my highly connected guar- 
dian got off his horse and ran forward to embrace 
the old farmer. But love levels all distinctions ap- 
parently, in Toorkistan as well as elsewhere." 




i-i 

ft 
ft 
w 

o 
o 



CROSSING THE KARAKORAM PASS 259 

Leaving Sanjoo on tlie 12tli, they took a new route 
to the soutliward, to avoid going up the Sanjoo River, 
wliich was still much swollen. The first day's jour- 
ney was along the valley of a smaller stream, between 
sandy ridges, to a camp at a solitary farm-house. " On 
startinof the next mornins;, the Yoozbashee called for 
the old moollah, to whom the house and orchard be- 
longed, and said to him ^ dua Jcilip ' (say a prayer) ! 
Upon which the old man went down on his knees, 
with outspread hands, everyone else outspreading 
theirs also, while he prayed, after which we all 
stroked our beards, and the Yoozbashee cried ' Bar- 
ak-allah, barak-allah ' (with God's blessing) ; and so 
we rode awa3^ 

" Still following up the stream, while it enters the 
higher mountains, we came in sight of the crest of 
the range at the head of our valley. It was covered 
with snow, below which some bright-green grassy 
slopes extend, a great contrast to the barren moun- 
tains around. We camped at the junction of a val- 
ley leading away westward, at the head of which is 
the small pass which we were to cross the next day, 
and which will lead us back into the valley of the 
Sanjoo stream, but at such a point that we shall no 
longer have any difficulty on account of its swollen 
state. 

" On the road, Hay ward often stops behind to take 
observations. The Yoozbashee seems to have irot 
quite accustomed to this now, and says to me, ' There 
he is, off again after some new road.' Thej^ have an 
idea that his sole object in exploring is to find some 
easy road into their country. 



260 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

"The Yoozbashee is redoubling his attentions as 
the time approaches for us to part. To-daj he gave 
us some cold breakfast on our arrival, as our things 
were not up. He tells us that the Toorks are lovers 
of horses (ashik). 

"On the 14tli we crossed the Choo-choo Pass. 
First up the side valley six miles, then an easy climb 
up to the Pass, which leads across a spur of the range. 
The descent is chiefly down a narrow gorge, emei-g- 
ing into a more open valley, which leads to the San- 
joo stream. We turned up this stream, crossing it 
three times, passed the old ruined wall which used to 
guard the valley, to a patch of cultivation and the few 
huts of Tam. We arrived about 2 p.m. Presently 
the river rose suddenly so as to become impassable, 
thus cutting off all our baggage from us. We had tc 
sleep in one of the huts without bedding, on the 
ground, and with our saddles for pillows. The Yooz- 
bashee and his man were firing at a mark ; also a 
Shikaree (or hunter) who lives here. This man is 
said to be able to shoot an apple off a man's head, 
and to have done so the other day at Khoten before 
the king, who gave him a considerable reward. 

" Our baggage rejoined us the next morning when 
tlie stream had diminished sufficiently. It was still 
quite high at 5 a.m. We rode a few miles up the 
stream, and encamped on a grassy spot to consult 
with the Kirghiz about our future movements. 

" On the 16tli we pushed on to a place called 
Kichik Yelak, the ' small pasture,' At five miles a 
valley joins from the right ; at eight miles the road 
begins to ascend long grassy slopes, occupying a 



CROSSING THE KARAKORAM PASS 261 

broad valley. At the junction of a valley from the 
left we came upon a Kirghiz camp, four akooees 
pitched separate for myself, Hayward, Moonshee, and 
Yoozbashee. Yoozbashee told me a story of a small 
Eussian force near Chimkend being surrounded, and 
agreeing to become Mussulmans (!) in three days' 
time. At the end of the three days it was found 
that they had strongly entrenched themselves, and 
declined to come over to the true faith. 

" All the Kirghiz came out to meet us. Numerous 
greetings from old acquaintances. The Kirgiiiz here 
consist of twenty-two households, which were called 
a yurt / he says that the latter word is not applied 
to the felt tents, which are called akooees. There 
were no camels at this place. A Kirghiz akooee 
which I measured was 51 feet in circumference, 8 
feet high in the middle, and 4 feet at the sides to the 
springing of the dome." 

On June 17th, Shaw and Hayward halted at the 
foot of the Grim Dewan, or Sanjoo Pass, whicli the 
former had crossed on his way to Yarkand, nearly 
seven months previous. Some of the servants were 
sent on in advance with the baggage, which was 
taken over the pass on the backs of Kirghiz yaks. 
The next morning the travellers started on yaks also, 
after taking an affectionate farewell of the Yooz- 
bashee, who embraced Shaw almost with tears. Sev- 
eral officers remained to cross the pass with them. 
" First," says Shaw, " we went up slopes of grass, 
surrounded on three sides by snow mountains — a kind 
of bay ; then we turned off to the south up the ridge 
There wis no snow until the very summit, tliough off 



262 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

the road it was Ij^ing 1,500 feet below the top. We 
found more on the southern descent, which was 
shishy for 1,000 yards. We rode to the very top, 
and found the baggage on the other side. Here we 
took leave of two more of the officials, and went on 
with fifteen yaks and five or six Kirgliiz. We went 
down the bed of the stream, which was much swollen, 
to a camping-place on the former jom'ney. 

" The next morning (the 19th) we descended to 
the Karakash River. Then we breakfasted, and then 
walked twenty minutes up-stream where deep water 
runs against the rocky side, and everything has to be 
carried by men for fifty yards. The horses were sent 
round above. The Kirghiz drove their yaks through 
the streams, liere about forty yards wide, averaging 
two feet deep, running four miles an hour, by experi- 
ment. Another twenty minutes' walk to rejoin the 
horses, then one houi* farther to camp in gi'ass and 
bush jungle. 

" Here we halted for a day, w^aiting for the baggage 
to rejoin us from the last stopping-place. We also 
shod the horses. An old Kirgliiz, seeing me with this 
very Diary Book, asked whether it was tlie Koran. I 
said it was a Kitab (book), upon which he reverenti- 
ally touched it w^ith his finger, which he then kissed. 

" I had a conversation with this old Kirghiz. He 
says this tribe first lived in Sarikol, but were so per- 
secuted by the Kanjootees {yaman hafirs, evil heath- 
ens he calls them), that they migrated to Sarikeea* 
twenty years ago ; they consisted of thirty families. 

* Sarikeea is the name given to the pasturages on the upper 
course of the Karakash River. 



CROSSING THE KARAKOBAM PASS 263 

Since the Atalik has been in power, the security now 
enjoyed in Sarikol has induced a fresh immigration 
of Kirghiz from the AUii plains (in Khokand), and 
they now number two hundred tents. It is ten or fif- 
teen days' ride from Sliahidoolla to Taghdoombash "-^ 
in the Sarikol district, and about as far onward to 
Andijan across the Pamir. The passes are low. There 
is no lake called Sarikol, but on.e, twelve days round, 
called Karakul. The Pamir is covered with grass, and 
abounds in wild animals, among which are the big- 
horned ' arkar ' {Ovis Poli)^ and its female, the 
' goolja ; ' they are very shy. The Kirghiz asked me 
whether I had any ' Frang miltek,' or Prankish gun, 
by which he means a riile (as I found by his descrip- 
tion) ; he said he and the other Kirghiz were mad 
upon them, and would perform any service to obtain 
one. 

*' On approaching the Fort of Sliahidoolla, on the 
21st, we were met by five soldiers under a Panjaba- 
shee about two miles out. They made complimentary 
inquiries after our health, etc., and rode back with us. 
We crossed the river twice, and camped near the 
Fort. There was a little spitting rain in the evening ; 
the snow was down to 1,000 feet above the valley. 

" On the 23d 1 started with a few light loads, leav- 
ing my heavier things to follow. ELayward did the 
same. I took mv own five horses and three of 
Jooma's. The Panjabashee and four soldiers escorted 
us for a mile out, and then took leave respectfull3^ 
There is plenty of grass at the evening's camp, under 

* Taghdoombash means " the head of mountains." It is the up- 
per part of the Sarikol district. 



264 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

an immense old moraine descending from the snow 
mountains to the east of the valley, and plenty of 
shrubby wood also by the stream. 

*' The next day's march, to Chibra, was eight and a 
quarter hours, or fifteen miles. 

" On the 25th we went on from Chibra to Chad- 
artash. For six miles we went down the broad val- 
ley south, the mountains on either hand gradually 
diminishing in height till they sank into the plain or 
high table-land through which an almost dry river- 
bed cut its course, twenty or thirty feet deep. 
Thence turning S. S. W. we had a full view of the 
high snow mountains opposite (Karakoram), of which 
we had been seeing more and more peaks ever since 
Chibra. Ascending the level of the table-land on our 
right we saw a cut in the range S. S. W. This leads 
to the Karakoram Pass. Farther to the left, snowy 
mountains come round (bordering the upper Karak- 
ash), getting more and more rounded, though still 
snowy, till they meet the Kuen Lun or Sooget Range 
behind us. This range, a high snowy one, faces the 
Karakoram, being about parallel and more regular as 
we see the actual range, while of the Karakoram we 
only see the snowy buttresses, not the actual water- 
shed : one is an arm}^ in line, the other is an army in 
parallel columns, of which we can only see the heads. 
The whole space to our left is a high irregular table- 
land, sloping up for thirty miles or so to the moun- 
tains to the east, which bound the Upper Karakash. 

" Through these mountains a pass is visible south- 
ward, between a rocky peak to the south and a high 
double snowy raountain to the north. This high 



GROSSING THE KARAKORAM PASS 265 

table-land which I have mentioned is called the 
* Diibsa Sergot or Sertkol ; ' it appears utterly bar- 
ren. A broad almost dry river-bed issues from it 
and unites at our feet with a similar one from the 
Karakara Pass opening, and with the one we have 
followed down from Chibra. The three go off to- 
gether north-westward, forming the Yarkand River 
(which here has but little water, scarcely flowing, so 
gentle is the slope of the broad shingly bed). Farther 
on this appears to sink deeper, and to become a kind 
of ravine between the barren spurs sent out from the 
Sooget snowy range to the north, and one from the 
Karakoram on the south. Then the character of the 
country seems to change from the open plateau on 
which we now are. Here one is reminded of views 
of Iceland, so close does the snow of the mountain 
sides come down to the plains. These mountains, al- 
though probably none less than 18,000 feet, seem 
mere hills, so high is the plateau from which they 
rise. The contrast between the view east and the 
view west is remarkable. 

" Descending into the shingly bed again, we turned 
toward the Karakoram, though the difference be- 
tween our former descent and our present ascent 
was scarcely perceptible. After a couple of miles 
from the turn S. S. W. we cross the shingly bed from 
the Dubsa Sergot. Here it was evident that it came 
from the pass of the Karakash, which hence bore S. 
E. The farthest point to which we could trace the 
Yarkand River bore hence N. W. by W. Four 
miles farther, a few dead horses, in a side bed, 

marked the halting-place called Malikshah. Here, 
18 



266 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

on the table-land to the left, we saw six white bucks 
(Tibet antelope). Beyond this the river-bed became 
entirely dry, and we marched up its interminable 
plains for eleven miles, till some low spurs from the 
Karakoram formed a kind of portal, through which 
we entered the mountains again ; this is Wahabjilga. 
Thence, through a broad mountain valley three 
miles S. W. by S. to a solitary rock in a grass-plot 
standing in the middle of the shingly bed, which 
liere has a little water in it. The slopes near have a 
little Tibet spiky grass ; this is Chadar-tash (tent- 
stone) where we camped. No water or grass between 
Malikshah and this. 

" The next day we made only one and a half hours 
= 5 miles. To the east of Chadartash a broad 
valley plain leads to an apparent Pass through snowy 
downs about fifteen miles off. This Pass bears S. E. 
by S., and probably leads to the Upper Karakash 
also. Hayward means to try this route, so here we 
part. Starting I passed one of those large ice-sheets 
which are common in these parts, formed by the re- 
peated floodings and fi'eezings of the stream in flat 
parts of its bed. At a mile from Chadartash I ob- 
tained a view of the Sooget Pass through an open- 
ing. Halted on a slope with a little grass at a place 
where the bed of tlie stream forms a little plain of 
shingle surrounded by red hills, just before the 
entrance of some valley among big snow mountains. 
They say there is no grass farther up, and the Pass 
is still distant. Went up a ridge thi'ee miles, to get 
a better view. 

"On Sunday, June 27th, we made a halt. In the 



1 



CROSSIJYG THE KABAKORAM PASS 267 

morning the mule and the gray horse (Yoozbashee) 
were missins:. I sent out in all directions. Yoosaf 
on the other gray, after hunting about for the tracks, 
was suddenly seen to go off sti-aight down the valley 
like an old hound that has found the scent. I found 
th^ two tracks leading that way, after vainly search- 
ing all the other directions myself. I sent two 
otliers after Yoosaf on horseback with nosebags, and 
food for the men. Present!}' comes Hayward's Ar- 
goou, saying Hayward's white horse is dead, and my 
two went past Chadartash at daybreak ! I scolded 
liim for not turning them (Haj^ward suggested in a 
note that I should give him a flogging). I also gave, 
liim a few spare nails. Hay ward not having a suffi- 
cient supply for his horses' shoes. 

" Tiie following day I was still obliged to lialt, as 
neither men nor horses have turned up. It was a 
friglitful trial of patience. I counted remains of 
eighteen horses lying about the camping - ground 
within a radius of 100 yards. 

"All along the road at every few hundred yards 
you find a skeleton, while the halting-places are 
crowded with them. At nio^ht we hear the howl- 
ing of wolves who haunt this road. The}^ are prob- 
ably now expecting the opening of the horse season. 

"Tlie boy Abdulla came back at 3 p.m., saying he 
liad followed the tracks of the inule, etc., nearly to 
Chibra. Yoosaf had evidently, from the tracks, tried 
several times to catch her, but in vain. They must 
all have gone over the Pass, where they will come 
across my caravan, etc. I determined to start to- 
morrow in any case, if possible." 



268 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

"Here ends my diary, for the difficulties of the 
road left me no more leisure, even to jot down a few 
lines at night." 

Early in 1870, after his return to England from 
this most daring and successful journey, Mr. Shaw 
was appointed by the Government as one of a com- 
mission to be despatched on a friendly mission to the 
Atalik-Gliazee. He therefore immediately returned 
to India, joined the other members of the party in 
Tibet, and in company with them made a second 
visit to Yarkand. Mr. Forsythe, formerly British 
Resident at Leh, was one of the party, and his ob- 
servations of the latitude, longitude, and elevation of 
various points in Central Asia, together with those 
made by Mr. Hayward, materially corrected our for- 
mer geography of those regions. 

Mr. Hayward, from whose reports so much was 
expected, was murdered early in 1870, at the foot of 
the Darkot Pass, in Chitral, a region hitherto unvis- 
ited by any European, lying beyond Gilgit, toward 
the sources of the Oxus, not far from the point where 
the Belor Dagli, the Hindoo Koosh and the Mag 
Dagh (or Karakoram) chains unite and form the 
great table-land of Pamir. 



CHAPTER XYIIT. 

THE CONQUEST OF KHIVA 

THE early iiionths of the year 1873 witnessed the 
successful invasion of Western Turkestan by 
the arms of Eussia. Though the territory thus added 
to the dominion of the Czar lies without the region 
to which this volume is devoted, the importance of 
the conquest, as regards both the present political 
and social condition of Turkestan, and the future de- 
velopment of Hussian policy in Central Asia, fully 
justifies the addition here of a brief chapter touching 
its conception and conduct. 

Russia's method of absorbing the territory of her 
Asiatic neighbors is well known. It is the old story 
of the wolf and the lamb and the muddied stream, 
only in this case the lamb is a wolf, and the wolf a 
bear. The stronger disturbs the stream, blames, 
then devours the weaker. 

Professedly seeking only a peaceful and civiliz- 
ing influence. among the half-civilized tribes along 
her borders, Russia persistently advances her pow- 
er, chiefly under the cover of commercial treaties, 
which, if rejected or broken, are speedily followed 
by more stringent measures for the protection of 
trade. By such tactics the Khanat of Kokand, in 
the rich valley of the Syr Daria, was in 1875-76 



270 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

brought under the dominion of tlie Empire ; wliile 
Bokhara and even more distant states have been 
forced to reconcile themselves to "friendly" inter- 
course with her. Khiva, however, had persisted in 
maintaining a hostile attitude. It preferred robbery 
to legitimate commerce, and would not abandon its 
predatory habits. Bands of marauding Khivans 
overi-an their Kirghiz neighbors who were under the 
protection of Kussia. Khivan emissaries enticed the 
Kirghiz to rebel against their protectors ; and in 
the diplomatic intercourse which ensued the Khivan 
government was capricious and disrespectful in its 
treatment of the Governor-General of Russian Tur- 
kestan. 

For these and other similar reasons Russia claimed 
that it could not do otherwise than take vigorous 
measures to bring the contumacious government and 
people to reason — in other words, make a new at- 
tempt to carry out certain designs against Khiva 
which Russia has cherished for nearlj^ two centuries. 

The first essay toward the annexation of Khiva 
was made as earlj^ as 1717, by Peter the Gi-eat, in 
response, it was said, to repeated application made 
by the Khivan rulers. Shah Niaz and his successor, 
to take the Khanat under Russian protection. An 
expedition well manned but badly commanded "was 
despatched from the mouth of the Ural, and after a 
successful march almost to the gates of Khiva, was 
entrapped by specious professions of friendship and 
submission, and every man treacherously put to 
death. 

The great events which agitated not only Russia 



1 



CONQUEST OF KHIVA 271 

but tlie Avliole of Europe during the ensuing century 
gave the Khivans a long respite from Kussiau ven- 
geance. 

In 1839 a second expedition was sent against the 
Khanat, but it proved a disastrous failni*e. 

The campaign that ended in tlie fall of Khiva wfis 
projected toward the close of 1872. The following 
spring three cohimns of invasion were organized ; 
one to start from the southeastern extremity of the 
Caspian Sea, near the mouth of the river Atrek, and 
attack the Khanat from the west ; anotlier to march 
from Orenburo^ around the northern shore of the 
Caspian, across the country by the sea of Aral to 
Knngrad, and enter the Khanat from the north ; 
the third, under the command of the Governor- 
General of Russian Turkestan, to leave the neigh- 
borhood of Tashkend and assail the Khivans from 
the east ; the several detachments to unite before 
Khiva and pass under the superior command of 
General Kanfmann, the leader of the division from 
the east. 

But two of the three armies took active part in 
the campaign. The column which left Tchikishlar 
near the Atrek made a gallant but vain struggle with 
heat and thirst for several weeks. Both men and ani- 
mals succumbed to the burning climate, and, too 
weak to return to the place of starting, were taken 
to Krasnoodsk, near the ancient mouth of the Oxus, 
where they arrived in a miserable condition toward 
the last of May. Though defeated by the elements 
this detachment contributed not a little to the suc- 
cessful issue of the invasion by preventing the Khi- 



272 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

vans from recruiting their ranks from the warlike 
tribes of the southwestern steppes. 

The Orenburg detachment arrived at Kungrad in 
the latter part of May, The Khivans made a stand 
at Chudjeili, but were defeated and fled southward, 
hotly pursued by the Russians, until they reached 
the fortress of Mangy t. They were again defeated 
on June 1st, and were retreating toward their capi- 
tal when it fell before the successful advance of the 
division under General Ivaufmann, which after a se- 
vere march and much fighting had crossed between 
the deserts of Kyzyl Kum and Batkak Kum, and en- 
tered the Khanat from the northeast. 

As the victorious Russians approached the capital 
the Khan sent messages announcing his intention to 
surrender both the city and the entire Khanat, but 
fled without waiting for a reply. The gates of the 
city were thrown open and the Russians entered, on 
June 10th, without firing a shot. 

The next daj^ being the anniversary of the bii'th 
of Peter the Great, divine service was performed 
with imposing ceremony on the public square of the 
conquered city, in honor of the great Czar, the first 
to attempt the conquest then completed, and in mem- 
ory of the Russian soldiers fallen in the several Khi- 
van campaigns. 

Soon recovering from his fright, the Khan re- 
turned to his fallen capital, accompanied by his chief 
ministers, and formally tendered liis submission. In 
accordance with Russian usage he was restored to his 
position as ruler, a Russian Council of administration 
being appointed for the period of Russian occupation. 



CONQUEST OF KHIVA 273 

Khiva fallen, the question at once arose, what 
would Russia do with it ? 

From the inception of the campaign the Russian 
government protested that the permanent occupation 
of the Khanat was in no way contemplated ; that the 
country would be promptly evacuated as soon as the 
offending people had learned the lesson the expedi- 
tion was intended to convey. The history of Rus- 
sian conquest in Asia shows how such professions are 
to be understood. As observed by an Englisli mili- 
tary critic, while the expedition was yet toiling over 
the burning steppes, Russia does nothing hurriedly. 
Having captured Khiva, she may remain there for 
years, always professiiig her intention to retire in a 
short time, but busily occupied all the while in prep- 
arations for an advance. This has been her strategy 
all along ; and thus her frontier has been steadily 
pushed forward. 

The result of the Russian conquest was the reduc- 
tion of Khiva to a vassal state with a native Khan as 
nominal ruler. The Khan holds his office on the 
sufferance of the Tzar ; and the Khanate is, to all in- 
tents and purposes, a Russian province. 

The Khanat of Khiva occupies the region around 
the lower valley of the Amu Daria — the ancient 
Oxns — the principal river of Turkestan. Yery little 
was known of the country previous to its conquest by 
Russia, and for that little we were indebted chiefly to 
the adventurous Yambery, who visited Khiva in the 
disguise of a dervish. Wherever watered by canals 
from the river, the soil is extremely productive ; be- 
yond, on every side are barren steppes, traversed by 



274 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

few lines of travel, and overrun by nomadic tribes. 
The people of the towns are degenei'ate followers of 
Mohammed, ignorant, bigoted, and brutal. 

Next to a debased religion, the heaviest curse 
upon the people of this region has been an atrocious 
sj'stem of slavery, the cause of endless warfare, pov- 
erty, and miserj^ This, thanks to Russian conquest, 
is at an end. The Russians were scarcely established 
in Khiva when the Khan, "as a mark of gratitude 
for the consideration shown him," promulgated a 
decree abolishing slavery forever. Many thousand 
Persian captives were thus set free from the worst of 
bondage, to remain as Khivan citizens or return at 
will to their own homes. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

ACROSS THIBET 

SIKCE the events recorded in preceding chapters, 
Central Asia has been further redeemed from 
its condition of a terra incognita by the explorations 
of several adventurous travellers. The Englishmen, 
Dalgleish and Carey, and the Russian officer Prje- 
valsky, explored new regions in Great Thibet ; and in 
1889-90, the celebrated French traveller and explorer 
Gabriel Bonvalot, accompanied by Prince Henry of 
Orleans and Father Dedeken, a Belgian missionary, 
succeeded in crossing the whole of Thibet from the 
Siberian frontier to Tonquin, a route which took the 
adventurous Frenchman and his companions over 
much ground hitherto untrodden by European feet. 

On his return M. Bonvalot published an extremely 
interesting account of their journey, in his own 
lano;uai>'e, a valuable addition to the world's knowl- 
edge of the region treated of, that was promptly 
translated into English by C. B. Pittman. From 
this very excellent book " Across Thibet," we, by 
permission of the publishers. The Cassell Publishing 
Company, quote from the more interesting and novel 
pages of M. Bonvalot's narrative : 

"Meanwhile we had to recruit our men at Djarkent 
on the frontier of Siberia. This was most difficult, 



276 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

for here we conld oiilj secure men verj much below 
the mark, and not at all built for a long journey. 

" Prince Henry, Father Dedeken, Rachmed, Bar- 
tholomeus, and myself form the nucleus of the ex- 
pedition. We, too, have an interpreter named Ab- 
dullah, who speaks Chinese and Mogul, who accom- 
panied the celebrated Pijevalsky. He seems to be 
an honest sort of fellow, but his vanit}-, his boastful- 
ness, and his talkativeness make us very uneasy. 
His account of w4iat he went through in the Tsai- 
dame alarms our followers, and he seems bent upon 
dissuading us from undertaking anything out of the 
beaten tracks. It must be added that the liussian 
Consul at Kuldja is not much more encouraging, and 
when Prince Henry tells him we are going to try to 
reach Ba-Tang* he smiles incredulously, and advises 
him not to be lured on hy that idea." 

" September 12tli. — To-day the small European 
colony kindly escorts us to the gate of the town 
(Kuldja), and cordially wishes us a safe journey and 
happy return home. And so, at last, we find our- 
selves in the saddle. We first make in an easterly 
direction, but change our course as soon as we have 
crossed the Tien-Chan, as it is Tonquin that we liave 
in view. Shall we ever get there, and, if so, by what 
route ? There is all the old previously known con- 
tinent to cross, the least known portion of China, 
Thibet and its highlands, the deserts and the deep 
I'ivers, to say nothing of the human beings, who look 
upon every stranger as an enemy." 

"After getting quit of the dust, which reminds 
* Near the Touquin border. 



ACROSS THIBET 277 

me of Turkestan, the soil, the landscape and the 
cultivation of tlie plain recall the neighborhood of 
Samarkand and Tashkendt. The beardless faces, 
the sunken ejes, and the long dresses of the men 
show that one is in China." 

" The Chinese authorities have succeeded in em- 
bodying a certain number of Kirghiz, in registering 
them, so to speak. Thus we observed that the horse- 
men whom we meet wear around their necks a small 
tablet in a felt bas:. When 1 ask what that means 
I am told that for some time past every Kirghiz who 
is going into the town must first appear before his 
leader and ask him for one of these tablets, upon 
which his name is written in Turkish, in Chinese, 
and in Mogul. It is a passport which enables him to 
move about freely in the bazaars, and in times of 
disturbance any Kirghiz caught without it is arrested 
bv the Chinese soldiers and visited with the most 
terrible punishments. On returning to his tribe the 
traveller has to return the passport to his chief, and 
in this way it is possible to ascertain who are absent, 
and to exercise some sort of police control in the 
mountains. These men, riding about with the tablet 
flapping against their chests, enable one to realize the 
enormous power of an administration when opposed 
to the weakness of private interests w^ithout cohe- 
sion." 

" September 19th. — Some Kirghiz who to-day of- 
fered us hospitality, declared themselves to be the 
liappiest of men. They have water in plenty ; they 
sow their corn at the foot of the mountains, and find 
an abundance of grass in the plains for their flocks 



278 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

and herds. They do not run short of wood, for the 
banks of the Kungez are crowded witli thick plan- 
tations, where the willow, the poplar, the apple-tree 
(with small and sharp-flavored fruits), the pepper- 
tree, the apricot tree, hemp, and licorice-plant and 
hop-vines grow wild. These Kirghiz formerly lived 
on Russian territory in the neighborhood of Lep- 
sinsk, and crossed over to Chinese soil because they 
Iiad no routes for their flocks. They pay the Chi- 
nese a tax of ten per cent. They are veiy cheerful, 
well fed, hearty, and with plenty of color, like all 
who live in the clear mountain air." 

" September 20th. — We take leave of these Kirg- 
hiz, the last we shall see, their tribes not extending 
farther east. Their chief, named Sasan, is very 
proud of the Russian medal which he wears around 
liis neck, and of the blue button in his hat, which in- 
dicates his Chinese rank. He accompanied us 
through the reed-beds, and before wishing us all 
sorts of good luce recommends to our favorable no- 
tice five men of his tribe whom we may encounter in 
the vicinity of Yulduz. He warns us that when tliey 
see us they will take us for Chinese and make off, 
but he begs us not to fire on them or do them any 
harm. We at once inferred that Sasan's friends 
are Barantachis — that is to say, persons addicted to 
haranta^ the Turkish word for horse-stealing." 

The Chinese governor of the province of Hi pro- 
vided the expedition with two native guides. On 
September 24tli these returned, and their places 
were taken b}^ two Torgutes, or Buddhist inhabitants 
of the countr3^ These guided them over mountain 



ACROSS THIBET 279 

passes, where, as indicating the peculiar religions 
ideas of the country, large inscriptions could be seen 
on the sides of the mountains, sacred sayings of the 
Buddhists, which true believers were supposed to be 
able to read at the distance of several miles. The. 
travellers had never before seen such enormous let- 
ters, so large, M. Bonvalot narrates, that "all the 
slopes of the Tien-Chan would scarcely be sufficient 
to print a whole book." 

After several days' march the country of the Mon- 
golian Torgutes is left behind, and the party encount- 
er communities of Mohammedan Turks, over whom 
the narrator grows enthusiastic. He writes : 

" A number of tall, well-set-up men, with black 
bushy beards, come round our bivouac ; they are the 
first we have seen since leaving Siberia and Kuldja. 
They enter into conversation with our men in Turk- 
ish, greeting them in the Mohammedan fashion, and 
one of them at once makes off and speedily re- 
turns w^ith some melons, which recall those of Turk- 
estan by their oblong shape and delicious taste. We 
all of us — French, Ilussian, Tarantchis, Kirghiz, and 
Uzbegs — are pleased at this meeting with men whom 
we feel to be closer to us than the Mongolians. We 
feel as if we had met some old acquaintances, and 
a very merry evening is passed. If the principle 
of nationalities — determined by the unity of the lan- 
guage — ever prevails among those who speak Turk- 
ish, if a kingdom be constituted out of the scattered 
members of this great nation, the monarch or the 
caliph of it w^ill command a countless host of valiant 
warriors. But they would be scattered over more 



280 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

than three-fourths of the surface of the Old World, 
and it would be diflBcult to mobilize them in time of 
war." 

M. Bonvalot gives an interesting insight into the 
career and end of " Yakoob Beg," the Mohammed 
Yakoob, or Atalik-Gliazee, of Kashgar, who figured 
so prominently in the experiences of Mr. Shaw. On 
October 5th the party reached the territory over 
which the Atalik-Ghazee ruled during the visit of 
Shaw and Hayward in 1868. 

" Before getting near to the Kutche-Darya, upon a 
height commanding a full view of the plain, we could 
distinguish the remains of a fort of diy brick, built 
by Yakoob the ' blessed one,' also named the ' dancer' 
by the people of Ferghana. This man was made in 
the mould to do great things, and Prjevalsky, the 
celebrated Russian traveller, was struck with liis in- 
telliorence when lie had an interview with him at 
Kourla in 1877. The good fortune of Yakoob was 
prodigious, though his rise was slow, inasmuch as he 
was a man of mature age when lie became master of 
Kashgar and Chinese (Eastern) Turkestan. During 
the few years that he governed this country he dis- 
played no ordinary activity, covering it with useful 
buildings, tracing canals, and organizing an army after 
the European model, having recruited, through the in- 
termediary of the Sultan, officers in all countries of 
Europe. Several came from Turkey, and a member 
of the present (1890) French Chamber of Deputies 
was on the point of being employed by Yakoob Beg. 
Heaven only knows what would have happened if 
this hardy Uzbeg had not been checked in liis career. 



1 



AOnOSS THIBET 281 

He would certainly have o'ot toi!:etber the '' twelve 
thousand o-ood soldiers" whom Lord Hastiness in his 
day considered sufficient for the conquest of China 
(this was Prjevalskj's estimate also of what would be 
required), and we should have witnessed the constitu- 
tion of a Turko-MongoHan state, which would have 
extended from the Terek-Davan to the north of the 
Pamir, to the Gulf of Fetchili. But Allah had de- 
cided that Yakoob was not to go beyond Kourla, and 
it was here that he closed his interesting career in the 
fortress built by him, which still exists. He died of 
poison administered by his Prime-Minister,* to whom 
the Chinese made alluring promises, which they took 
good care not to keep." 

On October 6th, the expedition reached the town of 
Kourla, where the Chinese officials made every effort, 
short of resorting to actual force, to prevent them con- 
tinuing on their wa}^ A show of firmness, however, 
overcame the opposition, and the travellers made their 
way through a level and watery country toward Lob 
Nor. They found a mixed population, " with noses and 
eyes of all shapes and colors, as in any large town of 
the West. I detect some regular Kirghiz, thick-set, 
with scarcely perceptible eyes, salient cheek-bones, 
and scanty beards; Sarthians with finer figures, and 
black, bushy beards, while gva.y eyes are not rare." 

Day after day they followed along the river Tarim, 
a stream that flows along without any bed, so that it 
spreads over a wide extent of country, forming every- 

*It would be interesting to know whether the Prime Minister 
referred to was Mr, Shaw's old friend, the Shaghawal of Yarkand, 
but M. Bonvalot throws no further light on the subject, — Ed. 
19 



282 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

where miiiibers of shallow lal^es and marshes. As" 
they penetrated farther east, toward Lob Nor, the 
Tarim flowed throngh a salt desert, and the growth 
of the swamps was inhabited by wild-boars, antelope, 
and various kinds of game, the party even seeing 
traces of tigers. The inhabitants were timid, suspi- 
cious, and quite like savages. They had tlie gaunt, 
wolfish appearance of people always short of food, 
and always searching for something to satisfy their 
liunger. Early in l^ovember the expedition reached 
a point in the vicinity of Lob Nor, and some of the 
party went on an exploring and hunting trip which 
lasted till November 16th. 

Lob Nor, which according to Chinese maps, was 
supposed to be a large lake, was found to be a wil- 
derness of reeds and small shallow pools ; which, 
however, in particularly wet seasons would be likely 
to swell and expand to a large shallow lake for a 
short period. A few small hamlets of reed huts were 
found, inhabited by an atrociously ugly, but hospit- 
able, Mohammedan population, who lived chiefly on 
fish and wild ducks, captured from day to day in the 
Lob. Wild camels were also found on the deserts a 
few days from the inhabited spot, and for a consid- 
eration the native sportsmen rode away on ponies 
and shot two, whose skins were secured by Prince 
Henry of Orleans as trophies of the visit. 

After leaving the vicinity of Lob Nor, the travel- 
lers pursued their journey in a desolate and waterless 
region of high elevation, where they suffered from 
" mountain sickness " (the malady known in the 
Rockies as ''mountain fever"). For five days their 



ACBOSS THIBET 283 

march was over a waterless tract, and they had to 
load some of their camels with lumps of ice. The 
region would also seem to be even more destitute of 
provisions for man and beast than of water, for M. 
Bonvalot thus describes their preparations for de- 
parture : 

" November 16th. — All is ready. We take with 
US seven hundred small bundles of hay to feed our 
horses, which are bound to die off first. We have 
taken into account the probabilities, not to say the 
certainty, of deaths, in order to fix the quantity of 
rations we need to take with us, and it is in propor- 
tion to the number of beasts of burden that we liave ; 
so that the load may decrease as the animals die and 
that the survivors may not be over-burdened just 
when their strength has declined. Experience tells 
ns about how much is wanted to feed the fourteen 
men of our regular army for five, or, at the outside, 
six months." 

Their route skirted the desert of Yobi, and mention 
was made, among other novel features of the countr}^, 
of a species of wild horse, called Koulanes, which 
roam the desert in large bands. Traces of wild asses 
were also observed. Already the region was more des- 
olate and forbidding than the worst encountered by 
Shaw on his journey from Cashmere to Kashgarover 
the Pamir. 

"J^ovember 26th. — To-day and yesterday has been 
devoted to the Tach-Davan (pass) and our troop be- 
ing quite exhausted, several of them have been bleed- 
ing from the nose, though we have not yet reached 
the altitude of Mont Blanc. The ascent is so steep 



284 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

that we have been compelled at times to hoist up the 
camels, and from the bottom men have to cany up 
the baggage. We are encamped in tlie midst of a 
naiTOM^, stony valley, quite arid, and without any 
signs of brushwood. Oar provision of ice is dimin- 
ishing, and the animals have not drunk for two days. 
So the new recruits who find themselves in this deso- 
late mountain are quite out of heart and full of 
gloomy forebodings. The Doungane, in particular, is 
very exasperated, and keeps on saying ' If the route 
is not better farther on what is to become of us ? ' 
And there is very little chance of its improving, for 
from the summit of this accursed spot we can only 
see in front of us mountain piled upon mountain." 

The whole of December was spent in traversing a 
desolate region of mountain passes, amid violent 
storms of wind, with the thermometer often indicat- 
ing a temperature of moi'e than 20° below zero. 
Owing to the elevation and the violence of the ele- 
ments generally, the whole party suffered with split- 
ting headaches and various ailments ; and occasion- 
ally members of the party got lost and wandered 
about until discovei'ed by search parties, owing to the 
barj-enness of the landscape, and the absence of ob- 
jects on which to fix the memory. One of the native 
aids died of exhaustion, and at times the entire party 
were in desperate plight. On the last day of the 
year M. Bonvalot writes a description of their sur- 
roundings and experiences which gives a fair idea of 
events from day to day on this part of the journe3^ 

" December 31st. — The tempest lasted all night 
with a minimum of 21° below zero. We sorely need- 



ACROSS TIJIBET 285 

ed a lower altitude, for men, horses, and camels are 
alike in a bad way, and old Imatcli lias his feet badly 
swollen. All throngh this, the last day of the 3'eai", 
we marched along between sandhills, winding round 
the shores of a lake (frozen), our hoi'ses pretty well 
blinded by the dust and sand. The camels would 
not follow one another, for the wind blinded and 
stupefied them, and each one ti-ied to shelter himself 
behind the other. This caused them to deviate from 
the straight line, and Prince Henry, with compass in 
hand, leading the way, had constantly to turn round 
and put the caravan straight." 

On January 4th the thermometer was down to 35° 
below zero, a bitterly cold temperature, especially 
with a strong wind. Mountain chains, each one 
higher than the other, were piled up in front of the 
party, and as the rarity of the atmosphere increased, 
together with the increase of cold, the sufferings of 
the travellers grew more intense. In the dips be- 
tween the mountain ridges a number of frozen rivers 
were crossed, which the Europeans believed to be 
the headwaters of the Yang-tsi-Kiang and other large 
Chinese rivers. Strange to say, in these frozen re- 
gions they saw monkeys playing about on the ice 
and rocks. They were red-haired and almost tail- 
less, and with very small heads. Near where they 
encountered the monkej^s, animals which we are ac- 
customed to associate with tropical climes and scen- 
ery, they experienced the coldest weather of the en- 
tire journey, viz. 48° below zero. Few things seem 
more incongruous than members of the anthropoid 
famllv associated with this intense cold. 



286 



TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 



weeks of travel they 



^ed 



After some s 
Thibet proper, and great was the rejoicing of all 
when they encountered the first Tliibetan, after be- 
ing so long in the uninhabited wilds. While rejoic- 
ing at again seeing human beings, the Frenchman 
indulges in a witty comment upon the necessity of 
again keeping their fire-arms in readiness, " for have 
we not come upon our brethren, part of the great 
human family ? " The meeting with this first native 
of the mysterious land of the Lamas is thus graphi- 
cally described : 

" January 31st. — While the beasts are being 
loaded and we are sipping our tea in the tent, we 
hear shouts, and Abdullah comes rushing in, beam- 
ing with joy, and saying (referring to a lottery that 
had been gotten up to be won by the person who 
should make the nearest guess when men should be 
seen), ' You can get out your purse and pay the 
winner; a man is coming.' On the arrival of the 
Thibetan he is greeted in Mongolian, and replies in 
the same language, all the men crowding round him 
and speaking at once. Rachmed comes and tells us 
that he is ugly beyond description, and that the very 
bears are better looking. When we think that the 
ice has been broken we come out, Pi'ince Ileniy with 
his photographic apparatus in his hand ; and our 
presence produces a certain effect upon our guest, as 
he rises when he sees us, calls us ^membo,' that is to 
say, ' chief,' and, in order to salute us, lifts up his 
thumb and protrudes an enormous tongue. 

He is a very little man, with a clean-shaven face, 
covered with a layer of grease and smoke, and fur- 



ACROSS THIBET 2S7 

rowed by a great number of deep wrinkles. His 
ejes, sunken in the orbits, are little more than black 
spots beneath the swollen eyelids, with brown pupils. 
His face is made to appear shorter by long locks of 
hair which fall down upon the hollow cheeks; the 
nose is large and the mouth toothless, with thick 
lips, and the square chin has no sign of hair. The 
man is weakly, and we can see that his hand is small 
and dirty, as he manipulates his snuff-box cut out 
of a piece of horn, shaking out some powdered red 
tobacco which he sniffs up into his nose. 

" His dress is in keeping with his person, his head- 
gear consisting of a strip of skin, which is wound 
around the forehead and fastened at the back, leav- 
ing the summit of the head bare. From the top 
hangs down a tress of hair (queue), coming as far as 
the loins, and passed through two or three rings 
made of animal's bones. The owner of the tress 
must rub fat over it, for that portion of his attire 
which it rubs against is more greasy and shiny than 
the rest." 

Four days after seeing the first Thibetan their 
camp was approached by about twenty horsemen, 
who demanded to know who they were, what was 
their business, and whither they Avere bound. Swift 
messengers had been sent off to Lliassa, the capital of 
the Lamas, when the strangers had first been seen ; 
and these men had come to report on the answer of 
the Lhassa authorities. The travellers were ordered 
to stay where they were ; and if they were Fa-Lang 
(that is, English or Russian) they were to be supplied 
with what the}' wanted for the return whence they 



288 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

came. The party, iiatiirallj, refused to retract their 
steps, however, and proceeded toward Lhassa, slowly 
and painfully, for the weather still continued ex- 
tremely cold, and their camels and horses were about 
done up. The Thibetans offered a passive resistance 
by refusing to sell them horses, or to assist them in 
any wa3^ In their extremity they endeavored to 
seize horses, but the Thibetans drove away their 
herds, and tried by creating a void about the expedi- 
tion to bring them to a halt. 

On February 13th, the travellers reached the sum- 
mit of a pass, and came in full view of the Singling 
Tanla, the holy mountain of Thibet, and the holy 
lake JS^amtso. 

" At our feet, between cliffs to the west, from 
which descend promontories, forming gulfs and bays, 
glitters a beautiful silver mirror, round in shape, but 
oval like an egg. To the southwest the lake skirts 
a hill and extends much farther ; but whether this 
liill forms an island or a peninsula we cannot tell. 
The Kingling Tanla arrests our attention much 
longer, as this chain unfolds before us its summits 
and peaks capped with snow, quite shutting out the 
horizon. We are struck by the equal altitude of this 
long row of peaks surmounting spurs which descend 
toward the lake in regular rows, like the tents of an 
encamped army ; and just in the centre we can see, 
towering over all the rest, four large icy peaks, which 
the Thibetans revere, for behind them is Lhassa, the 
' city of the spirits.' " 

The gallant Frenchman and his party were the first 
Europeans actualh^ to behold this sight, thougli the 



ACROSS THIBET 289 

sacred lake and mountains had been located geograph- 
ically, through the researches of Nain Singh. The 
altitude here was 15,321 feet; and although on 
ground never before trodden by Europeans the 
travellers at least knew where they were, a thing which 
they had been by no means certain of for several 
weeks past. 

At the pass over the NinglingTanla the expedition 
was halted for a whole month, negotiating with the 
authorities for permission to proceed. The travellers 
were visited in their camp by the Ta-Lama, or re- 
ligious chief of the place, and the Ta-Amban, or high 
civil officer, together with many hundreds of petty 
chiefs and their followers. M. Bonvelot thus de- 
scribes the visit and appearance of the great chiefs 
in their camp : 

"Then the interpreters arrive and ask us to grant 
an audience to the great men who had just arrived. 
We reply that we shall be veiy happy to receive them 
at once. When our answer has been transmitted, 
quite a large band makes it way to our tent, preceded 
by two individuals who are sumptuously attired in 
the Chinese style. These two approach arm in arm ; 
and one of them, small, short, round, and bent in the 
back, leaned heavily on his companion's arm. With 
a venerable air these two approach slowlj^ stopping 
to take breath every fifteen steps. Perhaps this mode 
of procession is meant to be in good form to impress 
us, and give plenty of time to go politely and meet 
them. But we are rude enous^h to i-emain in our 
tent, and only go out of it when they have got on to 
our ground. We then exchange salutations with the 



290 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

two chiefs, who are introduced to us as tlie Ta-Lama, 
and the Ta-Amban, after which some porters deposit 
at our feet five sacks — one of rice, one of zaraba, one 
of meal, one of Chinese peas and one of butter. Then 
we invite the two ambassadors to enter our tent, 
where our skins are spread ready for them. The sim- 
plicity of our furniture is evidently a surprise to them, 
for they appear to hesitate, and make difficulties be- 
fore entering. Then, when once they have entei'ed, 
they ask permission to sit on their own little rugs, 
and their servants lay down for one of them a wild- 
cat's skin, and for the other a small mattress lined 
with silk. They apologize for these precautions on 
the score of their age, and fatigue. 

" The three who had been the first (on a previous 
occasion) to enter into negotiations with us, take their 
seats near them in front of us, and the conversation 
commences." 

At first it consisted of mei-e polite exchanges. 
Then came direct questions about themselves and 
the motive of their travels. 

" You will now retrace your steps," spoke the Ta- 
Lama. 

" No, that is impossible." 

''If you will we will supply you with all that you 
want. This is the best course for you to pursue, 
and we shall part good friends. Think over my sug- 
gestion, which I advise you to accept. I venture to 
hope that we shall not fall out, for we have come 
without any soldiers, though we might have brought 
some from Lhassa. That proves our good inten^ 
tions." 



ACROSS THIBET 291 

The authorities seem to have confined themselves 
to diplomacy and veiled hints of armed opposition, 
and to have been really anxious to make a favorable 
impression, and remain on friendly terms with the 
visitors, whom they regarded with deep suspicion. 

In striking conti'ast to the Chinese refinement of 
the Lhassa officials, were the native Thibetans, 
wliom the narrator constantly refers to as utter sav- 
ages. Hundreds of these rude people were in attend- 
ance on the Lamas and officials, and obeyed them as 
dogs obey their master. A group is thus described : 

" We see squatted round a wood fire eight long- 
haired men under the command of a shorn Lama. 
They are conversing quietly and smoking a little 
pipe formed of an earthenware bowl and bone stem, 
which they hand round to each other in turn. 
These are the poor wretches whose work it is to 
gather the dead wood, and who have no part in the 
'New Year's celebrations. What we took for a tent 
in the distance is really ou]y half a tent, a mere shel- 
ter of black sack-cloth, open on the side from which 
there is no w^ind. They sleep there on a little straw 
and chips ; in a corner stand their bows and lances, 
and in the middle three stones form a fire-place for 
use on windy days. Their simple dress is cut out of 
sheep-skins, frayed at the lower extremities, full of 
holes, and extraordinarily dirty. Their faces, black- 
ened with grease and smoke, suggest the purest type 
of savage that one can imagine. On looking at their 
narrow heads we ask ourselves what brains they can 
possibl}^ inclose, and are by no means astonished at 
the unusual autiiorit}^ which the Lamas exercise over 



292 TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

beings so very unintelligent, so little capable of any 
self-will, whose sensations cannot differ much from 
those of yaks and dogs." 

The complete control exercised by the Lamas over 
the common Thibetans was further made manifest 
on March 17, when, permission having at length 
been obtained to move, preparations for departure 
were in order. 

" The Lamas then set about obtaining from the 
Djachas, yaks and horses enough for the whole cara- 
van. So many are required that the Dtachas refuse 
to supply us, and getting angry, shout and threaten. 
Then the Ta-Lama summons their chiefs, who, im- 
mediately on receiving the order, appear calm but 
crestfallen. The Ta-Lama bids his servants throw 
open the front of his tent, and from his dais — where 
he remains sitting cross-legged, his hands in his 
sleeves — talks quietly to them. He has scarcely 
opened his mouth when the savages bend, and in the 
posture of a child awaiting the cane, lower their 
heads, scarcely daring to raise their eyes, and cry 
humbly : 

" ' Lai esse, lalesse ! ' (We are ready.) 

" And vrhen the Ta-Lama, in conclusion, says to 
them, still in his quiet tones : 

" ' Is it possible that you w^ould displease the Djon- 
goro Boutch (the living Buddha) and the Ta-Lama 
(great Lama) ? ' 

" ' No,' they reply, groaning, and falling on their 
knees. 

" ' Yer}' well ; then obe3^' 

" ' Lalesse, lalesse.' (It is all right.) 



m 



ACROSS THIBET 293 

" A servant tliereiipon bids tliem retire, which they 
do, backward, in the most respectful attitude of the 
country." 

From Lhassa the expedition was assisted toward 
Tonquin by the district chiefs with droves of burden - 
carrying yaks, horses, and people, under orders from 
the Ta-Lama. The more southern parts of Thibet 
were found to be thickly populated, compared with 
the country about Lhassa. Their route took them 
across a succession of mountain passes and valleys. 
Passing through much new and interesting country, 
they finally arrived at Ba-Tang in June, a point 
which had previously been visited by several Euro- 
peans, entering from the Chinese side. The expedi- 
tion embarked on the Red River on September 22d, 
having traversed 3,750 miles across the mysterious 
" Roof of the World " since leaving Djarkent. 

Of the future of Thibet, it may be said that any 
positive conjecture would be rash at the present 
(1892) time. From M. Bonvalot's experiences it ap- 
pears that the approaches from the Russian side are 
vastly more difficult even than from the side toward 
India, and that an invasion, in force, from either 
would be attended with enormous difficulties. Po- 
litically, as well as geographical!}^, it seems to belong 
by nature to China, or Tonquin ; the communications 
from either of these being comparatively easy, and 
through an inhabited country. 

Within itself the country appears to be easy pi-ey 
enough for whoev^er should undertake its conquest. 
Judging from M. Bonvalot's account, Thibet is, from 
a militai'y point of view, at the mercy of any ener- 



29-1: TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA 

getic adventurer who conld take with him five hundred 
disciplined troops. The Chinese authorities exercise 
but a nominal control over the country, and the peo- 
ple are governed, or rather exploited, through the 
agency of religious superstition, and the diplomacy 
of ^ superior cunning and craft on the part of the 
priests or Lamas and a handful of Chinese mandarins. 
Future developments in this very interesting land 
will be looked forward to with keener anticipation 
by all lovers of travel and adventure than to any 
other country in Central Asia. 



